There’s no failsafe way to not get scammed, but if you’re vigilant you can give yourself the best chance of never falling victim to a scam artist. Here are some must-do tips to protect yourself.
Instead of assuming that each email you get is safe until proven otherwise, familiarise yourself with how businesses actually contact you and go in with a list that emails have to tick for you to engage with them (for example, they’re from a known sender, no suspicious links, no irregularities in how they’re written etc).
Do your research. This doesn’t have to take long! Check out verified product reviews, current trending scams (for example, at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news-alerts), or look up businesses or email addresses in Google to see if they’ve been flagged (even if they haven’t, you still need to play it safe if you think it might be a scammer).
Know the red flags. Emails/text messages with spelling errors or awkward phrasing; that request urgent action or immediate payment; or that have an offer too good to be true are often scams to get you to hand over personal information
Visit a trusted site such as www.haveibeenpwned.com to see if you have been impacted by any data breaches.
