In the past five years more than 2600 Australians have been scammed to the tune of $113 million.
And fifty-three of those were Tasmanians with an average loss of $18,000.
While it’s old news, with most of the details released to the Senate back in May, the ongoing awareness about the unscrupulous is always welcome.
With Australia’s 1.3 trillion pool of superannuation, the fraudsters and their attempts to get their hands on our money won’t be going away anytime soon.
Interestingly, the most likely to be conned are well educated males, over 50, financially literate and probably managing their own super.
This might suggest a touch of over confidence when managing their money and the possibility previous investing success was more good luck than good management and paying appropriate attention to risk.
And with poor investment returns over the past few years people are being tempted by too good to be true offers.
So what are the best ways to recognise and avoid being scammed?
Given the big trend in tattooing, having a reminder tattooed on your forearm might be a good start, but mostly it should be a common sense proposition.
Any unsolicited phone call asking personal details should raise an alarm and should be ignored no matter how much the caller ratchets up the pressure.
Investors also need to check and double-check who is investing their money and where it is being invested, before even considering investing.
Further, they need to ensure those providing the investment service have a valid Australian Financial Services License.
With a great deal of frauds and scams being perpetrated by overseas entities, this should be the final and major warning sign.
This is especially important because when funds are transferred offshore there’s zero chance of recovery.
Don’t get scammed.
Peter Mancell is a director of Mancell Financial Group and FYG Planners AFSL/ACL 224543. This information is general in nature and readers should seek professional advice specific to their circumstances. Need help with your financial your financial future, we think we’re the best financial adviser in Australia.
