THE PARKIE WIN25 - Magazine - Page 33
MEMBER PARK NEWS
PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS
FROM SCAMS
While trusted industry property management systems
including RMS and Newbook provide enhanced online
protection for your caravan park business, it pays to
remain vigilant for scams.
False billing scams involves tricking businesses into
paying for something they didn’t purchase. Scammers
will contact you by phone or email asking for payment for
services or products you haven’t ordered.
Double-check that invoices are from trusted suppliers,
verify payment details directly with the business and
if unsure, search for the official site of the organisation
requesting payment from you.
Investment scams often impersonate legitimate
companies, using convincing marketing to make their
investment sound appealing.
Sense-check investment opportunities with family,
friends or a trusted adviser. You can also check ASIC’s
Investor alert list for details on companies, businesses or
entities you shouldn’t deal with.
This could affect you as both a business sending out
invoices or a consumer if you are paying large bills for
goods or services. In this scam, you
• receive an email from a business you are dealing with
and are expecting an invoice from.
Remote access scams involve tactics to convince you
that you have a computer or internet problem requiring
new software to fix. Scammers trick people into giving
them remote computer access, which allows them to
access the computer and bank accounts.
• pay the invoice thinking that the payment is going to
the business.
Do not give out any personal, credit or online account
details over the phone or provide unsolicited callers with
remote access to your computer.
• are unlikely to notice anything unusual until you receive
a demand for payment from the legitimate business.
Phishing scams use links to obtain personal, business or
financial information. This often involves impersonating
a government department or legitimate business and
sending a phishing link by email or SMS text where the
recipient is tricked into clicking on the malicious link.
Use anti-malware software, enable multi-factor
authentication on your email, banking and social media
accounts, and remember to back up your information.
Business impersonation scams impersonate legitimate
business websites. This can result in damage to your
business brand and loss of customer trust and confidence.
Monitor the use of your business and brand name online,
act if your company name or website is impersonated
and let your customers know how your business
communicates with them so they can identify when a
message is fake.
Payment redirection scams on the rise
Payment
redirection
scams
involve
scammers
impersonating a business to request an upcoming
payment be redirected to a fraudulent account. They
pose as a genuine business a consumer has recently
dealt with, sending fake invoices with altered payment
details so the money ends up with the scammer.
CARAVAN & RESIDENTIAL PARKS VICTORIA
WINTER 2025
• make payment to the scammer instead of the actual
business.
This scam is hard to detect because the scammer will
either hack into the email system of the business or
impersonate the business’ email address by changing as
little as one letter.
It’s important to note that if you respond to the email to
query the change to the payment details on the invoice,
the scammer will respond justifying the change.
So, if you receive an invoice via email, take the time to
call the business on a number you have found yourself to
confirm that the payment details are correct.
Protect yourself
Act quickly if something feels wrong. If you have shared
financial information or transferred money, contact your
bank immediately.
Help others by reporting to Scamwatch https://www.
scamwatch.gov.au/ You can also report incidents of
cyber crime to www.cyber.gov.au
This information was collated from information provided by ASIC
and ACCC.
Have you or one of your staff members been a
victim of a scam? If you would like to share your
experience and learnings with others in The
Parkie (with confidentiality offered), contact us
via email admin@crpvic.com.au
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