Sector Articles of Interest - 29 October

Written on the 28 October 2020 by SAFCA

• LSC Keeping Connected Resources for New Migrant Communities
• Threat based scams targeting young people and Chinese community
• TIO reports - Third consecutive quarter of growth in overall complaints, Q1 small business complaints spike 28%

Legal Services Commission Keeping Connected Useful Legal Resources

Welcome to 'Keeping Connected' - a fortnightly e-resource to help keep workers p to date with relevant legal topics.

As workers in organisations, government departments, and education sites, you are in the perfect position to share important information, resources, and steer people in the right direction to get the help they need.

Each fortnight we highlight our resources on a particular legal topic.

This edition's topic is Resources for New Migrant Communities.

Resources for New Migrant Communities

This edition of Keeping Connected has links to our audio announcements, short guides to the law, education kit, and short films designed for new migrant communities.

Law for You  lsc.sa.gov.au https://lsc.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2a1b40286e514f72ae2835c06&id=9c27f9409f&e=598163b570

Law For You is a short guide to the law for new migrants living in South Australia. It is intended to help people learn key laws and find out about services available to assist people with legal problems.

The Law For You resource guides can be downloaded in the following languages: Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, English, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Swahili, and Vietnamese.

To sign up to this newsletter, contact cle@lsc.sa.gov.au

SCAMS Australians have lost over $8.8m to threat based scams this year.

Threat based scams targeting young people and Chinese community

Australians have lost over $8.8 million to threat based scams so far this year, and young people are reporting the highest losses.

Threat based scammers often pretend to be from government departments and rely on fear, intimidation and people's instinct to comply with authority, to scam victims. These scams are mainly phone-based and impersonate various officials, such as police, ATO officers or government investigators.

People aged 24 and under reported losing more than $4.1 million to threat based scams and women reported losses three times higher than men.

"It is extremely concerning that young people are being so severely emotionally and financially impacted by threat based scams," ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

"These losses can be devastating and they can also lead to a loss of trust in authority, meaning victims of threat based scams may be less likely to seek help or advice from legitimate agencies in the future.

"So far this year Scamwatch has received over 18,000 reports of these scams, an increase of 40 per cent compared to reports across all of 2019.Chinese authority scams comprised 74 per cent of all losses to threat based scams, over $6.5 million. These scams target Mandarin-speakers in Australian and impersonate authorities such as the Chinese embassy, police or other government officials.

"Threat based scams disproportionately impact people with English as a second language, including foreign students, who may not fully understand Australian law," Ms Rickard said.

"Victims will often provide personal information to scammers, as they believe they are dealing with a government agency, and this can lead to identity theft or falling victim to further scams."

Scamwatch has recorded an increase in robo-calls impersonating government agencies, such as the Department of Home Affairs or Services Australia, which claim the victim is under investigation and to 'Dial 1' to speak to an investigator.

"Government departments will never send pre-recorded messages to your phone or threaten you with immediate arrest," Ms Rickard said."

If you're not sure whether a call is legitimate, hang up and call the organisation directly by finding their details through an independent search."

"Never send money or give credit card details or personal information to anyone you don't know or trust and never by email or over the phone."

More information on scams is also available on the Scamwatch website, including how to make a report and where to get help.

Consumers can also download the ACCC's Little Black Book of Scams, which has been translated into 10 languages.

Background - If the scammer impersonated a government agency, contact the agency by sourcing the number from an independent search and report the scam to them.

If you have experienced fraud or theft or the scammer is impersonating the police, contact your local police or crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.IDCARE is a free government-funded service which works with victims of identity theft to develop a specific response plan and support them throughout the process. You can phone them on 1300 IDCARE (432273) or visit their website www.idcare.org.

TIO reports an increase in complaints against Telcos

Third consecutive quarter of growth in overall complaints, Q1 small business complaints spike 28%

Between July and September 2020, residential consumers and small businesses made 34,476 complaints about phone and internet services This is an increase of 3.4 percent on the previous quarter, and the third consecutive quarter of incremental growth in overall complaints.

To read the media release, click here