Council on the Ageing Victoria is calling on older Australians to take immediate action and reach out if they believe they’ve been scammed, noting that swift responses typically yield better results.

COTA Victoria engagement and education manager Frankie Freeman explains the organisation’s vital role through the Ask COTA phone line and community education programs.

“My role is primarily to make sure older people in Victoria have access to the information that they need as they age,” she said.

“Older people are not the only victims of scams, but unfortunately, scammers do target older people disproportionately,” Mrs Freeman said.

“One of the things that I say when I try and get people to think about how they respond to scams is the earlier you tell someone or you take action, the better the outcome is going to be for you.”

Mrs Freeman highlights key warning signs people should recognise, including unexpected communications, deals that appear unrealistic and pressure to act quickly.

“The reason why scammers are generally successful is because they try and get people to act straight away and not think things through,” she said.

“It will often be time pressure of, ‘You don’t have to contact your son or daughter about this deal, because this deal will end in the next hour, if you don’t act now.’

“One of the things we talk about is urgency, because most of the time, if people have some time to think about an opportunity, then they can go back and think, ‘Yes, this does sound too good to be true.’”

Mrs Freeman noted that if your bank, a utility company or the ATO rang you with an urgent request, you could hang up and ring them back using the contact details you would typically use.

She did not think any Australian institution would mind if you did that, as it helped them protect against scams.

Unusual payment requests, such as gift cards, cryptocurrency, or weird payment methods for the circumstance, should trigger caution.

Mrs Freeman suggested implementing multi-factor authentication and keeping separate email accounts for financial dealings and general subscriptions.

There are various support channels that scam victims can access for help, including:

“Anyone can unfortunately fall prey to scams, it is not intelligence-based, it is not any particular demographic base,” Mrs Freeman said.

“If you are a victim of a scam, don’t let the stigma prevent you from acting, responding to the scam, because the sooner you act, the better the outcome you are going to get.”

COTA runs free community information sessions and talks on preventing scams, the protective factors and ways to recognise scams, and the types of scams that are out there.

If you know of a seniors’ community group or club that would benefit from a free community information session, bookings can be made through COTA Victoria, cotavic.org.au or by phoning the Ask COTA line on 1300 135 090.

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