Finance

An Australian small business narrowly avoided losing almost $940,000 to a single payment redirection scam, Bendigo Bank says, highlighting the importance of double-checking invoice details before firing off payment.

The ACCC's National Anti-Scam Centre has warned small businesses of scams in the wake of the global CrowdStrike and Microsoft outage.

The ATO will no longer send an SMS message to taxpayers to inform them their tax return has been processed, as the rising tide of fraudulent messages makes it difficult to discern real communications from costly scams.

Cargo pants and bucket hats are not the only icons of the 90s that are making a comeback; even tax time scammers are recycling techniques from days gone by.

Money lost to scams is tracking in the right direction even as fraudsters prey on the cost of living crisis to target people looking for side hustles.

In Australia in 2022, only 13% of attempted scam payments were stopped by banks before they took place. Once scammed, only 2% to 5% of losses (depending on the bank) were reimbursed or compensated.

The founder Desiderate Jewellery says fraudulent chargebacks are “killing” small businesses at a time when many are already hurting, with her family-owned business already losing $5,000 to chargebacks this year alone. 

While scam losses originating from a phone call or text message decreased by 18%, and 6% respectively, scams originating on social media increased by 17%.

The Australian Taxation Office has dodgy invoicing in its crosshairs, warning businesses that the Serious Financial Crimes Taskforce is ready and able to take action.

The entire 70-minute address is available for viewing online, but SmartCompany has highlighted five of the key points for small businesses.

At least 150 ATO officials have been investigated as part of a massive GST fraud crackdown, resulting in criminal proceedings and employment terminations, according to a bombshell report from the Auditor-General.

Australians who lost tens of thousands to SIM card fraud now have retribution after their telco was fined over compliance failures that led to the scam.