How to protect yourself from scams

Unfortunately, each year Australians continue to lose millions of their hard-earned dollars to scammers.

The BUSSQ fraud prevention and security teams’ top priority is keeping our members’ accounts and personal information safe. Members should take some comfort knowing that BUSSQ has a range of security protocols and processes in place.

As always, BUSSQ will never contact you requesting your passwords or other sensitive information. We do suggest though that you remain vigilant, look out for potential scam and fraudulent activity, and avoid engaging with unsolicited emails and SMS’s.

To protect yourself, it’s also recommended that you set up multi-factor authentication or two factor authentication on as many services as possible, and use a strong, unique password on each of your key financial and email accounts and change them regularly.

Being aware of potential scams and fraudulent activity is crucial but we know at times it can be difficult to recognise. A few signs to look out for include:

• If there is a problem or a prize
• If you’re being pressured to act quickly
• If a message you’ve received has errors or looks poor quality
• If you’re being asked to pay in a specific way
• If it is not something you were expecting

There are some things you can do to help protect yourself from scams including:

• Keep your personal details secure, protect your passwords, and be careful how much you share online
• Avoid Suspicious Links and attachments and be wary of emails, messages and calls claiming to be from delivery and toll companies, the ATO, Centrelink and MyGov
• Access your online accounts through a trusted bookmark or by typing in the web address
• If you receive an email or SMS you are unsure about, don’t click on any links or attachments or phone the number provided in the email or SMS. Go the BUSSQ website and call us using the contact details on our website
• Never give permission for anyone to take control of your device remotely
• Check website addresses– fake websites may have very similar addresses to official websites with an extra dot, slash or letter included
• Learn more about how to protect yourself and what to do if you’ve been scammed at the Australian Government’s scamwatch.gov.au
• Check the business contacting you is legitimate. Here is a handy guide from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission website.

If you feel concerned about fraudulent activity and wish to speak with one of our team at BUSSQ, simply call us. Our contact details are on our website.