Scams targeting Australia’s multicultural communities are on the rise, costing people millions of dollars every year. To fight back against predatory scammers, the National Anti-Scam Centre is expanding the advice on Scamwatch to support a further 17 languages.
According to the national body’s Targeting Scams 2023 report, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities accounted for more than 12% of reported losses last year. These losses totalled $60.5 million, more than the previous year.
In an effort to curb the impacts of scammers, Scamwatch now includes updated written and video advice translated into more languages. Mandarin, Arabic, and Vietnamese – some of Australia’s top-spoken languages – are among the inclusions.
“Culturally and linguistically diverse communities are disproportionately targeted by scammers,” said Catriona Lowe, ACCC Deputy Chair. “These translated resources are an important tool to help people in their preferred language to spot and avoid scams.”
Job and employment scams are currently in the national watchdog’s sights. Reports of attempts to trick people into giving money and personal information via fraudulent job offers rose by more than 150% in 2023.
“We know job scams particularly impact culturally and linguistically diverse communities and non-resident visa holders, making these new in-language materials a valuable source of information for these communities,” said Lowe.
“Job scams also impact students looking for part-time work or people looking to earn more as they experience cost-of-living pressures.”
Which languages does Scamwatch support?
Following the updated translations, Scamwatch now provides advice in 17 languages other than English, including the following:
- Arabic
- Cantonese
- Croatian
- Dari
- English
- Farsi
- German
- Greek
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Korean
- Macedonian
- Mandarin
- Spanish
- Tagalog
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
In addition to the advice published on Scamwatch’s website, the three tenets of stop, check, and report apply to any potential scam.
If you’re ever in doubt about a message, an email, or a phone call, stop to think about whether it’s legitimate – scammers like to create a false sense of urgency. If you feel like it’s a scam or something dodgy is afoot, report it to Scamwatch.
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