{"id":22923,"date":"2023-11-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&#038;p=22923"},"modified":"2023-11-03T15:01:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T07:01:04","slug":"international-student-guide-to-avoiding-online-scams","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/international-student-guide-to-avoiding-online-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"International Student Guide to Avoiding Online Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In recent months, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/\">Australian Government&#8217;s ScamWatch Centre<\/a> has sounded the alarm on a concerning trend \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/news-alerts\/national-anti-scam-centre-warns-of-spike-in-scams-threatening-chinese-students\">an upsurge in scams targeting Chinese international students.<\/a> These scams involve scammers masquerading as Chinese police officers and employing a variety of tactics to threaten, intimidate, and ultimately steal from unsuspecting young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This rise in this activity raise critical questions: What are scams, how can you recognise their warning signs, and, most importantly, how can you protect yourself from falling victim to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scams, in the world of cybercriminals, are a method of compromising personal information and\/or accounts. They typically use communication channels including email, text messages, phone calls and social media, and often take on the guise of a person or organisation you trust. Their aim? To trick you into paying money or providing your sensitive personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But fear not! There are ways to distinguish between legitimate communications and deceptive scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly, you need to determine whether what you&#8217;ve encountered is a scam. To do this, it&#8217;s crucial to be well-informed and stay up-to-date with the latest scams in circulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, always rely on trusted, direct sources for your information and avoid using any links or contact details provided by potential scammers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thirdly, cross-reference the information they&#8217;re seeking with official sources. Reputable companies and organisations typically outline what information they will or will not request from you online or over the phone \u2013 if what they\u2019re asking for doesn\u2019t line up, it\u2019s most likely a scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After you\u2019ve considered the above, and think that you\u2019re being scammed, remember the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Don\u2019t click on links, open attachments, or reply to requests for personal information or access to your computer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contact your bank if you think your credit cards or bank accounts are at risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ignore the call\/text and refer to the National Anti-Scam Centre, ScamWatch, to report it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Report a cybercrime or security incident at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyber.gov.au\/report-and-recover\/report\">ReportCyber.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>By arming yourself with this knowledge, you can navigate the treacherous waters of online interactions with confidence and protect yourself from falling prey to scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the current scam threatening Chinese students and its warning signs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/news-alerts\/national-anti-scam-centre-warns-of-spike-in-scams-threatening-chinese-students\">visit the ScamWatch website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyber.gov.au\/learn-basics\/explore-basics\/recognise-and-report-scams\">Australian Government website<\/a> for more information about how to recognise and report scams.<\/p>\n\n\n<section\n                class=\"block card-ms \"\n        role=\"complementary\" aria-label=\"Card plus media slider\"\n        data-segment=\"all\">\n        \n\n            <div class=\"card-ms__stage\" id=\"slick-1767212545\">\n                    <div class=\"card-ms__slide slide\">\n                <div class=\"slide__container  no-gap\">\n                    <div class=\"slide__card\">\n                        <div id=\"australian-governments-scamwatch-tips-for-avoiding-scams\" class=\"card\"\n         data-type=\"\"><div class=\"inner\"><div class=\"card__title\"><h2 class=\"h2\">Australian Government\u2019s ScamWatch tips for avoiding scams:<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"card__content\"><p>STOP \u2013 Don\u2019t give money or personal information to anyone if unsure. Scammers will try to verify who you are or use fear to make you believe their story. Don\u2019t rush to act. Take your time and don\u2019t give money or personal information.<\/p><p>THINK \u2013 Ask yourself could the call be fake? Scammers pretend to be from organisations you know and trust. Contact the organisation using contact information you source independently, so that you can verify if the call is real or not. If you\u2019re not sure, hang up.<\/p><p>PROTECT \u2013 Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact the police if you have been harassed or intimidated and your bank if you have lost money to a scammer. Seek help from IDCARE and report to Scamwatch.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>                                            <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"slide__media\">\n                                                                                                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/AdobeStock_582041493-aspect-ratio-2-1-1000x500.jpg\" alt=\"Cover image\">\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent months, ScamWatch has reported an upsurge in scams targeting Chinese international students. Here are some warning signs of online scams and tips on how to protect yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4418,"featured_media":22926,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[146,149],"class_list":["post-22923","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-student-life","oasis-categories-wellbeing"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}},"post_components":false},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Oasis-news-header-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Rachelle","last_name":"Erzay","display_name":"Rachelle Erzay"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 02:48:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/22923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/22923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=22923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}