Yesterday I posted a reply on this discussion, but I really feel that scam prevention as a whole might be best separated and emphasised in its own topic.
This is a topic that I'm very passionate about so forgive me if my zeal gets in the way of the message, but my fellow Cheapies, I'm sure you'll all agree that the only thing better than saving a heap of money on a great deal is not losing a heap of money to a scammer when you might have.
So rather than getting lost in the comment section of another post, I'm reposting my comment here for discussion:
With all the news recently and the TVNZ Nigel Latta doco coming out, I have had some discussion with my son and wife about scams. They both have, I suppose understandably, got the message from the media that to protect yourself you simply "Don't click links". While it's a nice soundbite, sadly I feel that's the wrong message and it won't appreciably stop people being scammed, it'll just slow the scammers down a little until the next wave hits.
So what's the key message that should be getting out there? Three words: VERIFY, VERIFY and VERIFY.
1) Independently verify that the person who called you or sent you X is who they say they are. Don't trust anything they have given you until you do: don't click their link, don't call the number they provided, don't give them anything and don't do what they say. It doesn't matter if the message looks like it came from them, and it doesn't matter if you recognise the voice on the other end of the phone. If they are asking you to do something risky then STOP and VERIFY. Somewhat counterintuitively you should especially take time to verify if there's a sense of urgency involved.
2) VERIFY that websites you are using to enter sensitive details (logins, etc) are legitimate before you type a thing.
3) If you are making a legitimate substantial transfer (say paying a supplier or putting down a house deposit) VERIFY through two independent channels that the recipient is correct. Don't just "trust" the trust account details that your supplier/lawyer has just sent. Call them on the number from their website (and again, don't click a link in their email to get to their website!) and get them to read it out to you.
Let's have a discussion: what else do you do to keep your hard earned coin from going to scammers? What experiences have you had? What can business and government do to prevent scams?
As per my post(s) in the other thread, I completely agree that you need to verify.
If you get called by anyone at all, you need to somehow verify their authenticity (displayed phone numbers can be faked) which is why it is crazy for your bank or the IRD (for example) to ever call you. The fact they might say to call them back after verifying the number, still gives credence to the possibility that you could get called by them in the first place especially with people that are more likely to be a bit clueless.
Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their actions, and think about the implications not only for themselves of being lazy / thoughtless / selfish, but also for those around them if / when they get scammed.
Many scams are using greed (of the victim) to try and scam them (pretty much all investment scams for example), so curbing your greed, and taking the time to think through what you are doing with your money is always a good idea.
What do I do to avoid getting scammed: Just be cautious about anything I get, whether online or not, and authenticate the other party at all times.
What experiences have I had: I've never been scammed myself. I have some experience of fraud, albeit mostly in corporate settings, as I used to do fraud investigations for corporates who thought (or knew) they had been defrauded by employees.
The world has always been this way, nothing has changed - there were scammers around thousands of years ago, and there will be forever. It is only the medium of communication that changes.