b'Webwaves WebwavesOther than phishing, two common typescontact businesses or government using of scams include: contact information from their official Hacking - involving scammers breakingwebsite, or through their secure apps. into the victims computer or device toIf youre not sure say no, hang up or obtain personal information. delete.Identity theft - where the victimsProtectpersonal information is used to obtainAct quickly if something feels wrong. money or while committing otherContact your bank immediately if you crimes. Data can be obtained bothlose money or personal information digitally and by accessing mailboxesor if you notice some unusual activity or improperly disposed personalon your cards or accounts. Seek help documents. from organisations like IDCARE and Ian Jamesreport online crime to ReportCyber. ASEG Webmaster The Government Scamwatch website https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ providesHelp others by reporting scams to webmaster@aseg.org.au Scamwatch.a wealth of information and statistics including dedicated pages for the Scams awareness week aforementioned Optus and Medibank In September 2022, Optus announceddata breaches. In addition, they have a a data breach following a cyberattackwebpage for reporting scams https://with the potential to affect up to 9.8www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam million customers. In October 2022,and an educational book on the various Medibank announced a cyberattack that,scam types https://www.accc.gov.au/at the time of writing this, could havepublications/the-little-black-book-of-affected 3.9 million customer records.scams.This represents a considerable portion ofMultifactor Authentication, as mentioned the Australian population (25.89 millionin previous Webwaves columns is in the 2021 Census) who may have hadanother method for securing your online their personal information obtained inaccounts.the last three months alone. Other tools include:In light of this, Scams Awareness Week 2022 is of particular importance. In 2021,IDCARE https://www.idcare.org/- there were 286 607 reports made toAustralia and New Zealands national Scamwatch with reported losses of $324identity and cyber support service. million. Already in 2022, reported losses areIDCARE offer support for both individuals considerably higher, at over $425 million.and organisations that have had their The most common type of scam reportedpersonal information obtained by in 2022 is phishing (attempting to conscammers.you into providing personal information,Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) passwords or credit card numbers). Thehttps://www.cyber.gov.au/- ACSC is the three most prevalent delivery methodsThe theme for Scams Awareness WeekFederal Government body related to are phone call (51 000), text message2022 is spotting a scam, for whichcyber security. The ACSC have a portal (50 000) and email (33 000). The leastScamwatch offers the following tipsto report cybercrime https://www.cyber.common method reported was fax(https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ gov.au/acsc/reportwith 50 reports - so be careful, whatevernews-alerts/scams-awareness-week-technology you are using (https://www. 2022-empowers-australians-to-spot- Before you go, take the spot the scam scamwatch.gov.au/scam-statistics). a-scam): quiz: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/about-scamwatch/tools-resources/Stop online-resources/spot-the-scam-quizTake your time before giving money or personal information to anyone. Scammers will offer to help you or ask you to verify who you are. They will pretend to be from organisations you know and trust, like a business you deal with, police, government or fraud service.ThinkAsk yourself could the message or call be fake? Never click a link in a message and ask a trusted friend or family member what they would do. Only DECEMBER 2022 PREVIEW 42'