Greater Fraud Prevention Hotline: 1300 653 679
After Hours (FRAUD ONLY): +61 2 49219220 or +61 2 49219524

The Greater is urging its members to protect their financial details and beware of hoax emails and scams. Some customers of other financial institutions have recently received hoax emails, requesting them to verify their personal details by clicking on the file attached to the email. The protection of our members’ privacy is a top priority. We will never send you an email, call you or visit you to ask for personal information such as your log on details, passwords, PIN numbers and account details.
If you receive an email asking you to confirm your personal information, please DELETE it immediately. Do not click on the attached file.

If you think you have answered a hoax email, accidently disclosed your personal details or have received unexplained funds in your account please contact our Fraud Prevention Department 1300 653 679 immediately. Our friendly team is always there to answer any questions or concerns you may have about fraud or your privacy. 

SO, what can you do to protect yourself?

Firstly, understand that no genuine company will EVER send you an unsolicited email asking for account details and passwords, under any circumstance, in any format.
If you get one, assume it’s a fake. You can always contact the company yourself to verify, but you should act with caution. In addition, you should:

• Install good anti-virus software on your PC and keep it up to date
• Never open attachments to emails unless you know who sent them
• Never plug a USB stick into your PC unless you know it is virus free
• Never give anyone account details, passwords or credit card details unless you initiated the transaction
• Never click on links contained within unsolicited emails
• Use secure websites only (look for the padlock symbol, or an address starting with “https”)  

Internet, Email and other Scams

There are literally hundreds of these to watch out for. While we would all love to win $100 Million in a lottery in Spain, or inherit $80 Million from a deceased relative in the Ukraine Treasury (who we have co-incidentally never heard of), the reality is that this just does not happen.
These types of scams usually prey on human frailty. They exploit these human traits and use them to gain our confidence. Briefly, they can be categorised as:

•  Banking and online account scams
• Chain letter and pyramid scams
• Health and medical scams
• Investment scams (get rich quick)
• Employment and job ad scams
• Romance scams
• Lottery scams
• Mobile phone scams 
• Money transfer scams

The Australian Government has a dedicated website to inform the public on the more common scams doing the rounds. The Scamwatch website can be found at www.scamwatch.gov.au
There are links there for reporting frauds, increasing your security hardware and other helpful information.