The Customer Owned Banking Association is urging Australians to remain highly alert for opportunistic scammers exploiting the global Microsoft 365 and Outlook disruption.
“As we increasingly rely on emails for daily communication, it is critical to stay vigilant during the chaos of a global outage,” said Martin Latimer, COBA’s Head of Financial Crimes and Cyber Resilience.
“Scammers are highly opportunistic and will deliberately create a false sense of urgency, trying to panic and rush you into making a mistake before you have time to think.”
While email systems are disrupted, scammers frequently pivot to ‘vishing’, using phone calls or robocalls to trick people into revealing sensitive information.
“Even if you are expecting a phone call from your internet provider or your company’s IT provider, beware and make sure they are exactly who they say they are. If suspicious, hang up and ring them back on a number you know is genuine,” Latimer advised.
“Be sceptical of any unsolicited calls, emails, or messages requesting that you download a software patch or provide remote access to fix your computer,” he added.
If a caller pretends to be from your bank, it’s important to be extra alert on what they are requesting.
“Your bank will never call you and ask you to send any funds, disclose passwords or request access to your device,” Latimer said.
Even when Microsoft systems return to normal, the threat remains active in the aftermath as criminals may continue to pose as technical support.
“Avoid sharing any information that is not relevant, and don’t give out information to unknown or unverified individuals or organisations, especially if the contact was unsolicited,” he added.
Australians are reminded to follow Scamwatch’s recommended approach of “Stop. Check. Protect”. If you encounter a potential scam, take a moment before giving your money or personal information to anyone, make sure the person or organisation you’re dealing with is real, and act quickly if something feels wrong. Report the scam to ScamWatch.gov.au to help protect others.
If you suspect you have been scammed, contact your bank or financial institution immediately to report the unauthorised transactions and secure your accounts.
ENDS
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact Mira Palomaki on 0459 954 035
The Customer Owned Banking Association is the industry body for mutual banks and credit unions. For almost 180 years our sector has put customers first, returning profits to more than 5 million Australians who put their trust in customer-owned banks.