How to identify spam and phishing messages
Keep your mobile devices and apps secure
Six simple ways to protect your passwords
Secure your accounts with Multi-Factor Authentication
Handy tips for secure online shopping and banking
How to spot scam phone calls
What are scam calls?
Criminals may call you, impersonating a government agency such as the Australian Tax Office (ATO), an energy or telecommunications provider, Australia Post, a bank, an online marketplace or the police.
The call may also appear in your phone as coming from a contact number you may recognise, possibly even your bank. Criminals can use technology to change the way their number appears in your phone. This is called spoofing and can also happen via SMS. Learn more about SMS phishing.
What is ‘spoofing’?
These scam calls aim to pressure you into providing your personal or banking information. The caller may threaten you with expensive fines or tax bills, arrest or deportation, to take you to court or disconnect your Internet service.
They may ask you to buy gift cards, iTunes vouchers, Bitcoin or pre-paid credit cards to pay your fine or debt. In other cases, they may request remote access to your computer and bank accounts to investigate an ‘issue’ or stop a transfer.
Legitimate businesses will never threaten to arrest you or demand immediate payment of a tax debt or fine with unusual payment methods like gift cards or Bitcoin or request remote access to your computer.
Bank impersonation scams
Bank impersonation scams involve criminals pretending to be a trusted bank representative to steal your money or personal information. They may create a sense of urgency by pretending to be from the ‘fraud’ team.
How to spot an impersonation scam?
- The caller may say they’re from Virgin Money Credit Cards and there’s an issue with your accounts or devices.
- They may ask you to move money to another account for safe keeping.
- They may ask you to download a program to give them access to your device.
- There’s a sense of urgency and they pressure you to act quickly.
Virgin Money Credit Cards may genuinely need to contact you
Our fraud team may need to get in touch with you if we’re concerned about your account, so it’s important to understand what we will and won’t ask.
We’ll never ask you to:
- provide your one-time code for authorising transactions, but please note, we may still request a one-time code for verifying your identity from time-to-time.
- transfer money to another account to keep it safe (it’s safe where it is)
- give us remote access to your devices
- provide personal information such as Driver Licence details.
We may ask you to:
- provide your full legal name
- explain or confirm the details of a payment
- provide more details about the person you’re sending funds to and how you communicate with them.
These questions are designed to help us understand the likelihood of you being involved in a scam or fraud, so that we can protect your account.
How big is the problem?
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Targeting Scams report advises there were 55,418 total scam phone calls of any kind, with reported losses of $116 million.
Download the report here.
Keeping your sms security codes safe
We may SMS you one-time passcodes for Virgin Money App and Online Service Centre registration, transactions and password resets. In the SMS, we’ll let you know that this is a secret code which should not be shared with anyone, not even Virgin Money Credit Cards. These codes provide an extra layer of security for your accounts, so it’s important to keep them and your phone secure.
Important: while Virgin Money Credit Cards does everything it can to recover funds transferred as part of a scam, it is not guaranteed.
Simple tips to help prevent phone phishing
- Treat any unsolicited phone calls with caution. If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of a call, hang up and call back on an official phone number.
- Never provide personal or credit card information during an unsolicited call.
- Ensure you carefully read any SMS codes you receive. For example, never share any SMS codes to authorise a transaction with anyone else, not even Virgin Money Credit Cards. Please note though that we may still request a one-time code for verifying your identity from time-to-time.
- Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer or online bank accounts.
Contact us for help
If you’re a Virgin Money Credit Cards customer and believe you may have fallen victim to a scam, please immediately contact us to reach the Fraud and Scams team.
Other helpful resources
- Australian Government | Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) brings cyber security capabilities from across the Australian Government together in a single location. It’s the hub for private and public sector collaboration and information sharing to combat cyber security threats. ACSC provides topical, relevant and timely information on how home internet users and small businesses can protect themselves from, and reduce the risk of, cyber security threats such as software vulnerabilities, online scams, malicious activities and risky online behaviours. Learn more about the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
- Australian Government | ReportCyber is a secure reporting and referral service for cybercrime and online incidents which may be in breach of Australian law. The ReportCyber website provides a cybercrime reporting mechanism as well as helpful information about cybercrime. Learn more about ReportCyber.
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | Scamwatch provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognise, avoid and report scams using publications, videos and other online resources. Learn more about Scamwatch.
- Australian Government | Office of the eSafety Commissioner The Office of the eSafety Commissioner provides online safety education for Australian children and young people, a complaints service for young Australians who experience serious cyberbullying~~,~~ and addresses illegal online content. Learn more about the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
- IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand's not-for-profit counselling, and support service set up to assist Australians impacted by identity theft and cyber-related crimes.
IDCARE can assist customers to navigate through the process when identity details or credentials have been compromised through fraud or scams. IDCARE is a free service for all Australians. Learn more about IDCARE.