Aussies urged to beware scammers

Consumers are being urged to stop credit card details and other personal information from falling into the wrong hands.

It is crucial that people take steps to prevent their personal and financial details from falling into the hands of scammers, one expert claims.

Writing in a piece for the Business Day section of the Age, Peter Kell, deputy chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, urges people against uploading credit card and bank account information on to a website that they think may be bogus.

He also strongly discourages consumers from giving their financial details or contact information to people they do not know, while such particulars should also never be sent via email.

Such Australian banking guidance comes as Mr Kell claims that scammers are increasingly looking to target consumers by sending emails claiming to have information about celebrities or which claim to contain lucrative offers but are in fact nothing but a sham.

Earlier this month, it was revealed people were being targeted by fraudsters pretending to represent Visa or Master Card who looked to obtain people's credit card details before racking up purchases on their accounts.

Written by Mark Hornby