Don't get stung twice by scammers

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Don’t get stung twice by scammers

How to spot a money recovery scam before it finds you

Money recovery scams targeting Australians are on the rise. In fact, reports of recovery scams increased 129% from December 2023 to May 2024*. Especially concerning, Aussies aged 65-plus were the largest reporting group and suffered the highest average losses.

What’s a money recovery scam?

A money recovery scam (also known as a finance or funds recovery scam) is when a scammer contacts a previous scam victim promising to get their back money for a fee.

Often they’ll claim to be from a reputable recovery service like a government agency, law
firm or consumer group. But in reality, it’s a scammer trying to steal even more from you.

How it works

The scammer will usually contact you by phone, email or social media. Sometimes, however, victims can unwittingly contact scammers by clicking an ad for money recovery services they see on social media or online.
The scammer will say they can recover your lost money and even lost cryptocurrency for an upfront fee.
The scammer will ask for your personal details or remote access to your devices so they can verify your identity or set up a cryptocurrency wallet so you can pay their fee.
The scammer may even provide official-looking guides and paperwork to help make their operation look real. But as soon as you pay the recovery fee it will disappear…along with your originally scammed money.

Here’s how it happened to Mark

After being scammed, ING customer Mark* went searching online for a recovery agency that could help get back his lost money.

After making contact, Mark had an in-depth conversation with a person named ‘James’ who assured Mark he could recover his scammed money.

James said Mark would receive an email with next steps once the upfront fee was paid.

After paying the fee using a well-known online payment service, however, Mark never heard from James again.

* Name changed for privacy

4 signs it’s a money recovery scam

Every crime has it’s MO, so here are some good clues it’s a recovery scam.

You’ve been scammed and someone contacts you promising to get your money back.
They claim to be from a trusted recovery service like a government agency or law firm.
They say you need to act fast and pay an upfront fee to recover your money back.
They ask for your personal details or remote access to your devices.

Specific things you can do

To help avoid a money recovery scam you should:

be cautious if an unknown person contacts you out of the blue
never give your personal or account details to someone you don’t know
never give an unknown person access to your computer or digital devices
never make upfront payments because you’ll probably never get your money back!

Better yet: Stop, Reflect & Protect

Whatever the type of scam, keeping these simple steps top of mind could help prevent you from becoming a scam statistic.

3 steps to spot scams before they find you

Stop. Before sharing any details or money, take a breather to assess if you really
know or trust who’s asking.
Reflect. Ask yourself: ‘Could this money recovery person, service or ad be fake?’
Protect. Don’t proceed if things seem fishy! If you’re an ING customer and notice unusual activity on your account, place your card on hold in the ING app and call
our 24/7 scams line ASAP on 1800 052 743.

For our latest security alerts and more ways ING can help to protect you and your money, visit ing.com.au/security

The safer way to try and recover money

As the number scam victims grow, so does the number of businesses offering recovery services. But Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre has concerns about many of their costs and practices, so it could pay to be cautious.

If you think your ING accounts have been targeted by scammers, call our dedicated scams line on 1800 052 743 and we’ll let you know your options.

*The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2024), https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/criminals-targeting-victims-of-previous-scams-promising-financial-recovery

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