Fraud awareness
The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) was established in June 2005 to provide a whole- of- government approach to raising awareness about consumer fraud. The Taskforce website 
www.scamwatch.gov.au provides information on scams and what to look out for.
The ACFT runs the National Consumer Fraud Week in March each year. The aim of the Week is to improve awareness about scams and the steps consumers can take to protect themselves.
Phishing
’Phishing‘ is a technique used to gain personal information for purposes of identity theft, using fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to come from legitimate businesses or financial institutions.
See more information on the Stay Smart Online factsheet on phishing.
Spam
Spam is the common term for electronic 'junk mail' unwanted commercial electronic messages. There is currently legislation in Australia to prohibit the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
See more information on the spam page.
Spyware
Spyware is software that is installed on a computing device that takes information from it without the consent or knowledge of the user, and gives that information to a third party.
See more information on the Stay Smart Online page on spyware.
Links
- Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is responsible for enforcing the Spam Act 2003. ACMA has a developed an online tool to report spam.
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) provides advice about scams and how to report them.
- Australian Federal Police (AFP) High Tech Crime Operations (HTCO) is responsible for investigating high tech crime in Australia.
- Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) investigates scams relating to financial services such as phishing.
