Gobbill processes 3 times more bills in the last month of each quarter, with installments such as council rates and some electricity bills coming up for payment. This makes this period the ideal time for scammers to target individuals with fraudulent bills.

It’s always good to keep a close eye on your email inbox. Statistics show that online scams are a growing issue, with huge losses to scams over August this year. Australians lost $12.5M in scams last month (August 2017), which is almost double compared to the same time last year. Email fraud makes up an estimated 27% of all scams, with an estimated total of $3.4M lost last month. The hardest hit by scams are older women. Apart from being aware and cautious of scams, keep yourself protected with Gobbill to help check and pay email bills.

August 2017 – Number of reports by Age and Gender

Source: Scamwatch

Gobbill is a partner of the Commonwealth Government Stay Smart Online program. In recent months, the Government Cyber program has issued a number of alerts of new phishing emails carrying malware. The emails pretend to come from a number of Australian institutions including Telstra, Origin Energy and AGL.

Find out more about Gobbill. It’s free to use service that protects you from email bill scams.

EnergyAustralia is being impersonated by cyber criminals in a malware campaign reports  IDG ARN. EnergyAustralia has become the second local energy provider caught up in a major email phishing scam after a “large volume” of malicious emails recently began hitting Australian inboxes, according to email security company, MailGuard.

The Melbourne-based company said the realistic-looking email masquerades as an invoice from the energy company, advising customers that the invoice is due in the coming days. Read more at ARN. EnergyAustralia has also issued their own warnings of the fake bills and provided advice to check on the source/sender of the email. Read more at EnergyAustralia.

Source: Tom Cowie, The Age.  Photo: Jason South

A former university finance lecturer who pursued Westpac for $1000 in compensation after the bank’s ATM ate his credit card.

Dr Andrew Leung, a former finance lecturer and actuary, argues that banks do nothing for their ATM service.

“Essentially the machine shut down, it froze, went blank and then switched off. It started back up after five minutes like nothing had happened. I didn’t get the cash, I didn’t get the card.”

The Bendigo Bank customer had to rearrange his direct debits when insurance companies began sending letters telling him that his payments were overdue and his polices were in danger of being suspended. Read more at The Age.

You never know when an ATM will gobble your card.

Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) has today issued a high priority alert to beware of the same ransomware disrupting organisations globally, including the UK’s National Health Service.

What can you do? Keep safe by applying software updates and backing up your data regularly. Use Gobbill to check and pay your email bills. You don’t need to know if it’s a fake bill and you don’t need to click on any links. Simply forward the email to your own @gobbill.com email address and it’s taken care for you. Read more gobbill.com.au

Last week, hackers used tools believed to have been developed by the US National Security Agency which has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries, disrupting Britain’s health system and global shipper FedEx. Australian Cyber Security Centre is tracking the attack campaign which goes by various names including WannaCry. It leverages known vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows patched since March 2017 making this disruption and impact preventable.

ACORN reports that they are continuing to monitor the situation closely.

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New Gobbill users can sign up for a FREE account at gobbill.com.au.

Follow us on Facebook/gobbill to receive further alerts.

 
What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is malicious software that makes data or systems unusable until the victim makes a payment. In this case, cyber extortionists tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments to spam emails that appeared to contain invoices, job offers, security warnings and other legitimate files reports The Sydney Morning Herald. 

About ACORN.

ACORN provides information on how to recognise and avoid common forms of cybercrime, such as hacking, online scams, online fraud, identity theft, attacks on computer systems and illegal or prohibited content, as well as offering advice to those who have fallen victim.

A hoax Origin Energy bill loaded with dangerous spyware has targeted tens of thousands of Australians. The well-crafted email branded with the energy provider’s official logo claimed to be an electricity bill for varying amounts, with one sighted by Fairfax Media as high as $911. Source: The Age. Read more

Example:

Users are warned to be aware of a reported phishing scam involving a fake invitation to share a Google Docs document.

The scam sees a user receive a legitimate-looking email that may appear to be from a trusted contact inviting them to share a document on Google Docs.

Users who click on the link are directed to screens that request permission for a malicious service to access their email account, contacts and other sensitive information. If a user grants permission, the malicious service can impersonate the user when sending messages on to other Google email users.

Users may also face the risk of having information and messages from their email accounts compromised.

The scam reportedly targets Google personal and corporate email accounts.

Click here for more information.

Source: Beware of Google Docs phishing scam | Stay Smart Online

Scammers are continuing to target Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Registry customers with fake emails that attempt to obtain money and personal information. ASIC has posted on its website an example of a scam email that claims to come from the ‘ASIC Messaging Service’ and has the subject line ‘Renewal’. The fake message appears to come from a credible email address.

The email text directs recipients to click on a link to obtain information about renewing their business or company name. However, clicking on the link risks infecting the recipients’ computer with malicious software that aims to extract money or sensitive data, or directs the recipient to a fake invoice for payment.

ASIC warns its customers to be wary of emails that do not address them by name, misspell their details and incorporate unknown attachments.

Gobbill is a partner of StaySmartOnline, a Commonwealth initiative to help protect Australian citizens and businesses from cyber related crimes.

Energy watchdog (Vic) calls out electricity and gas retailers luring households with discounts of up to 40 per cent, then to increase prices.

The article warned that “households are being lured into deals with the promise of large discounts unaware that companies can ratchet up prices at any time. …discounts of up to 40 per cent offered by electricity and gas retailers are rarely locked in, and called for a dramatic rethink to make power bills fairer for consumers.” Source: The Age 15th April 2017

Gobbill has been calculating the actual % discount amount received for our users and many have found that are not getting what they expected.

This has prompted them to quickly switch service providers.

A large number of emails pretending to be invoices generated out of MYOB — but actually containing links to dangerous malware — reportedly started circulating this week. Source: Business Insider Australia

Researchers are warning of a widely distributed email that claims to be from the Australian Taxation Office but actually aims to infect computers with malicious software.The researchers say the malicious email tries to trick recipients by claiming their Business Activity Statements (BAS) are available to view, and includes a link that claims to enable recipients to download their BAS. The ATO advises that BAS statements are not provided by email.

Source: Researchers warn of fake ATO emails carrying ransomware | Stay Smart Online