Hervey Bay Gossip

Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today joined the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce in warning consumers to be alert to scams that operate by calls or texts to private phones.

“As well as the cold call scams promising incredible investment returns that have been around for a while now, scammers are devising more sophisticated ways to take advantage of consumers through calls or texts to their fixed line and mobile phones,” Senator Coonan said.

“Consumers need to be aware that they could be targeted by unscrupulous people and be able to protect themselves from often ingenious scams.”

Consumers can avoid scams when they know what to look out for, or exercise caution so as not to fall into the scammer’s trap. The Taskforce offers the following tips to help consumers protect themselves from phone scams:

   1. be suspicious of unexpected calls and text messages;
   2. hang up, or text ‘STOP’ to unwanted messages; and
   3. don’t give out your number to just anyone.

“The Australian Government is committed to protecting consumers from scams of all kinds through effective legislation, regulation and education,” Senator Coonan said.

“In October 2006 the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme came into force. It was developed by providers of mobile phone services and mobile content, and was approved by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), www.acma.gov.au.”

“We are expecting to launch the National Do Not Call Register in May 2007. The Register, which will be administered by ACMA, is being set up in response to increasing levels of community concern about the growth in unsolicited telemarketing calls.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 10:46 am and is filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.