IT seems there now more ways than ever to be ripped off. Years ago, a sophisticated scam might have involved a shady looking bloke in a pub trying to sell you shares in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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And guarding yourself against the scammers was easy: you just had to remember that if it looked too good to be true then it probably was.
Today, though, the internet means the person trying to steal your money may not even be in the same continent.
Bathurst police have issued an urgent warning for the public to be vigilant after scammers have managed to steal thousands of dollars from unwary locals in recent weeks.
Typically, the scammers have targeted elderly people who may be more trusting than younger people and less savvy when it comes to technology.
And the scammers work so quickly that even though one victim realised something wasn’t right, he had already lost $700 by the time he shut down his computer.
These modern-day scammers are so effective because they can trick their victims into believing they are trying to help them, not rob them.
The death of face-to-face business in modern society – even for banking transactions – has
created an ideal world for scammers who do not need to set up a fake office to gain a veneer of respectability; they need only a smooth voice and a script saying they are from one established bank or another.
They also strike when their victims might be distracted, calling at meal times or early in the morning when there are other things happening in the house. The only defence now is constant vigilance, even in your own home.
It’s the world we’ve created, and with all the good comes the bad.
