Money Scams

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Consumer and Business Services. Can the minister tell us how South Australians can better protect themselves—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is warned.

Ms WORTLEY: —from fraud and scam attempts?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for her question. It is, sadly, the case that South Australians often find themselves the target of fraudsters and scammers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop is warned for the second and final time. At least he made it count.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, indeed. I think he was incited by one next to him, Mr Speaker. In any event, the ACCC has recently released a report, entitled 'Targeting Scams', which has highlighted the amount of money that Australians are losing to unscrupulous scammers of many different varieties. Throughout 2015, South Australians lost more than $4 million to scammers.

A significant type of scam that continues to cause concern is one that originates from Nigeria, with the financial loss in 2015 totalling $543,319. The main characteristic of this scam is that consumers are asked to provide an up-front payment, with the promise of a large sum of money that will be released with the payment.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: There are no second prizes for that interjection. The deputy leader is on two warnings.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Some may be familiar with this, it is usually like, 'Your Uncle Bert has been killed in a tragic accident,' somewhere in Uganda. 'You're his only surviving offspring. You didn't know about that, but if you would just care to send us a cheque for a thousand dollars or a money transfer of a thousand dollars, we'll process the $2 billion estate for you.' My mother, to her great credit, received a phone call like that and she said, 'I'll tell you what: just go ahead and you can take the $500 out of my money,' and nothing happened after that.

I have also been receiving correspondence from South Australians, stating that they are being targeted by individuals alleging to be from the Australian Taxation Office or Centrelink—and yes, I have had some of these calls as well, and they are quite intimidating—threatening enforcement, and in some cases issuing a warrant for their arrest (and this is what they allege) if they do not hand over money, which allegedly these people owe. Some of these members of the community, who may be in many cases elderly and reside on their own, are terrified of answering the phone out of fear of who might be on the other end of the phone. I think I have reported in the parliament about receiving messages of this type myself.

The good news is that Operation Disrepair, which is a South Australian scams disruption operation initiated by SAPOL, has had outstanding results. Operation Disrepair was launched in May 2013 and involves police officers following the money trails of transfers to West Africa. As a result of the operation, fund transfers to high risk jurisdictions were reduced by 26 per cent, compared to 2014, and the amount sent also dropped by 15 per cent. Operation Disrepair won the National Meritorious Police Award as part of the Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards.

A national campaign was also launched yesterday, entitled 'Property spruikers: in it for themselves'. This campaign aims to combat a different type of scam, where property investment promoters invite people to their free—and I love the irony of this—wealth creation seminars that are advertised through social media, emails and letters. Often, they will try to entice people to purchase course materials, DVDs, or may even offer to arrange finance through a third party. Although these scams may sound promising, they are often the ones that can have the most devastating and long-term impact.

If people do choose to attend these seminars, they need to be aware of high pressure sales tactics on the day which try to rush them into making a decision and signing paperwork, property deals where the spruiker offers financial advice, representations that the scheme is government approved—

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier's time has, alas, expired.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Alas, there is more.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I know it would have got better. Leader.

Mr MARSHALL: How do you know that, sir?

The SPEAKER: Parliamentary intuition.