The NSW Department of Fair Trading has launched a Scam Buster app on iPhone and Android. With safety tips and direct scam reporting, this free app should be on every phone (especially your parents’).
Whatever Australian state you live in, the Scam Buster app has a lot to offer. There are detailed breakdowns of scams by type (face to face, internet and email, telephone scams, and addressed mail) with many different styles of scam in each category. There are also lots of common tips to stay safe no matter what you’ve encountered.
Having a handy reference can make a big difference to a naive user. Just by the act of installing Scam Buster it may help to keep scam safety in mind as a day-to-day risk.
Perhaps best of all is the reporting tool for instantly sending a scam report to the authorities. We probably all have stories of spotting a scam but not really knowing where to go to file a complaint. The reporting tool asks for the date, the type, where it happened, any names involved, and a description. Plus you can upload a photo to give as much evidence as possible to help get the police on the case.
Scam Buster is available now in the iTunes App Store and the Android Marketplace.