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Customers of Coles and Qantas have been told to be extra wary as a new scam targeting loyalty programs does the rounds, with an expert revealing Australians are extra vulnerable amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch issued the alert today, saying they’ve received 209 reports over the past four months.
The warning comes after new research by consumer advocacy group CHOICE showed nine out of 10 people have encountered a scam in the past 12 months, prompting the declaration, “scams are increasing rapidly throughout Australia”.
Australians are increasingly encountering scams as fraudsters make use of sophisticated technology to mask them, CHOICE said.
The research released by the consumer advocacy group also found a further 50 per cent of respondents said they encountered a suspected scam every week.
“Scams are increasing rapidly throughout Australia, often creating significant distress and financial hardship for victims. New technological advances mean scams are also becoming more difficult to identify,” CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland said.
“Our research found 88 per cent of people say scams have become more sophisticated or harder to spot recently.
“We urgently need stronger rules that require businesses to do more to protect people from scams. At the moment, companies like banks, digital platforms and telcos are simply not doing enough to safeguard the community.”
How does the new loyalty scam work?
Customers of loyalty programs will receive either a text, or email, that contains a link to a fake website.
When a customer logs in, scammers will then steal their points, login details and other sensitive personal information to “commit identity fraud”, ACCC said.
Deputy Chair of ACCC Catriona Lowe said any customer of any loyalty program needs to think twice before clicking any link.
“While the vast majority of reports to Scamwatch received so far are in relation to Qantas Frequent Flyer, Telstra and Coles loyalty programs, it is important for Australians to be aware that any loyalty program could be referred to,” she said
“We are very concerned that Australians experiencing cost-of-living pressures may be more susceptible to these scams.
“Scammers are deliberately panicking consumers by claiming their points are expiring soon.
“We urge people to immediately delete or ignore any message regarding a loyalty program that contains a link.”
“The National Anti-Scam Centre has contacted the companies that have been impersonated by scammers and is working with web host providers to have the fake websites taken down, to minimise harm to the community,” Lowe added.
