Last week, Central Murray Bank and Yarrawonga Mulwala Community and Learning Centre joined forces with Victoria Police and NBN in a community awareness session designed to help locals understand how to stay safe from scammers.
Information presented for Scams Awareness Week highlighted that scams can happen to anyone.
Criminals target busy, trusting and community-minded people, often creating believable situations and applying pressure to act quickly.
Australians lost more than $2.18 billion to scammers in 2025, with more than 481,000 reports made. Scam losses increased 7.8 per cent compared with 2024.
Common scams include investment, romance, phishing and remote-access scams, while emerging threats include AI voice cloning, deepfake videos, fake “Hi Mum” messages, QR-code scams and one-time password theft.
Residents are encouraged to be suspicious of unexpected requests for money or personal details, avoid clicking links in unsolicited messages and independently check the identity of anyone claiming to represent a bank, government agency or other organisation.
Anyone who believes they have been scammed should contact their bank or card issuer immediately and report the incident to Scamwatch.
Support is also available through IDCARE on 1800 595 160.
