As Australians continue to spend more time online to stay in touch, work and consume entertainment, scammers continue to find new and novel ways to take advantage of people. Now more than ever, we all need to remain vigilant. Australians should make sure they are well equipped to spot online scams and protect themselves online.
Meta has invested heavily to protect the safety of users on our services. But we know scammers are very innovative and we all need to play our part to spot and report scams. As part of Scams Awareness Week (7 – 11 November), we’re launching an education campaign across Facebook and Instagram to help Australians spot some of the most common scams online that we’re seeing across Meta’s apps. It builds on the very successful campaign we ran in July 2022, which reached more than 8 million Australians with tips on how Australians can protect themselves from scams.
As part of this campaign, Meta created short educational videos that explain some of the common scams Australians should be alert to when using Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, and how to protect themselves online.
These include:
- Romance scams
- Online shopping and Marketplace scams
- Phishing scams on Meta
- Family members in need scams
- Investment scams
- Impersonation scams
The campaign also includes simple tips we can all follow to protect ourselves online:
- Set up two-factor authentication – it’s simple to do and adds a second layer of protection to your account, by sharing a notification whenever there’s an attempt to access your account. To find out more about setting up two-factor authentication (or 2FA) on Facebook, click here. For Instagram, click here.
- Protect your personal information at all times – never share your personal information, such as your ID documents, payment login details or passwords. Don’t transfer money to someone you don’t know.
- Look out for suspicious behaviour, links, emails or messages – if in doubt, don’t click or respond, and take some time to research. Take action and report your suspicions via our Facebook or Instagram help centres or report it to police.
Scamming is a societal issue that goes beyond any individual company or app. Scammers are constantly evolving their methods to contact people – over the phone, text, and online – and these methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. All of us – companies, governments, law enforcement and citizens have a responsibility to fight this shared challenge and protect ourselves online. Meta continues to invest in new technologies to detect and remove these scams, and provide resources for our community to spot and report scams.
Josh Machin, Head of Policy – Meta Australia, says: The whole industry needs to collaborate in this area, and that’s why we’re proud to partner with a range of industry stakeholders, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), IDCARE and Australian Law Enforcement and Puppy Scam Awareness Australia to share important measures to combat scams and ensure a safe and secure environment for Australians online.
Together, through education, technological investments and reporting tools we can all play a role in helping to reduce scams online.