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Every scammer needs to deceive the unsuspecting person by appearing genuine.

One of the simplest is to use a genuine email address to request a routine payment to a different bank account.  Once payment is made, the funds disappear.

The best defence to intercept scammers is to educate yourself:-

• Know who you’re paying, contact the payee directly using a trusted contact number and ask the payee to provide the invoice amount, their BSB and account numbers to verify the payment details, especially for first time payments
• Check if anything in the email looks unusual, like the tone of the email, grammar, or spelling
• Consider if the request for payment makes sense.  Email addresses can look authentic, so its important to check carefully for anything unusual such as extra characters or strange domain names
• If there’s any reference to urgency of payment in the email, be extra careful.
• Exercise great caution when opening any links.  If you’re not certain, don’t click on it.  Take the time to type an address from your own address book.
• If in any doubt, don’t act.