Appendix 1

Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Online Survey 2014

The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) was formed in March 2005 and comprises 22 government regulatory agencies and departments. The ACFT also has a range of community, non-government and private sector organisations as partners in the effort to increase the level of scam awareness in the community. Further information about the ACFT can be found at www.scamwatch.gov.au

As part of an annual awareness campaign, the ACFT invites consumers to participate in this online survey to improve the prevention, detection and investigation of scam activities. The survey should take only 10 minutes to complete and all participants will remain anonymous. You will not be asked any questions designed to identify you and all information provided will be treated as confidential. If at any stage you choose not to continue with the survey you can close the survey and your responses will not be saved or recorded.

If you would like to assist us by completing the survey, please click on the ‘next’ arrow below.

You may print out your completed responses by clicking on the printer icon located at the top of the screen on each page.

The following questions ask about various scam invitations that you might have received during the last 12 months and how you received them. Nine types of scams are included in addition to a general category of ‘other scams’.

1. Lottery scams - Dishonest notification from someone the recipient doesn’t personally know in relation to having won a lottery or some other prize or competition.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to winning a lottery or some other prize?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam relating to winning a lottery or some other prize, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a notification of having won a lottery or some other prize?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a notification of winning a lottery or some other prize, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

2. Money transfer scams - Requests for assistance to transfer large sums of money out of another country to the recipient’s bank account in return for a percentage of the amount transferred. Advance fee payments are sought before the large sums are sent and the scammer then defaults on the agreement, sending no money at all.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a request for assistance to transfer money out of another country (such as Nigeria)?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam invitation relating to a request for assistance to transfer money out of another country, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a request for assistance to transfer money out of another country?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a notice of a request to transfer money out of another country, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

3. Inheritance scams - Invitations usually sent by scammers posing as a lawyer or bank employee purporting to act on behalf of a deceased estate falsely claiming that a distant relative has died and has left the recipient a large inheritance which can be recovered in return for a payment.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a notification of an inheritance?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam relating to a notification of an inheritance, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a notification of an inheritance?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of an inheritance scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

4. Phishing scams - Requests by businesses to confirm the recipient’s personal details or passwords or to supply other personal information - these types of scams seek to trick people into providing their personal details and banking information and sometimes make use of malicious software downloaded to computers.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a request by a business to confirm your personal details or passwords (phishing scams)?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam relating to a request by a business to confirm your personal details or passwords (a phishing scam), and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a phishing scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a phishing scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

5. Financial advice scams - Financial advice scams consist of illegitimate advice offering high financial returns on investments that invariably lead to overall loss of money by the recipient.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a request to supply you with financial advice?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam relating to a request to supply you with financial advice, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to illegitimate financial advice from a person you don’t know?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a financial advice scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

6. Boiler-room scams (investment scams) - Request to buy, sell or retain securities or other investments (including superannuation investments) that are usually offered through cold-calling by scammers who seek to sell worthless shares or investments to recipients.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a request to buy, sell or retain securities or other investments (including superannuation investments)?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a boiler-room scam, and how many times were you contacted? (select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a boiler-room scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a boiler-room scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

7. Work from home scams - Work from home scams are often promoted through spam emails or advertisements on noticeboards in which attractive job offers are made but which do not relate to legitimate employment.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to an opportunity to work from home?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a work from home scam, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a work from home scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as a result of a work from home scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

8. Computer support centre scam - Computer support centre scams occur when recipients receive, mainly telephone calls, from scammers claiming they are from well known computer manufactures or businesses that can fix problems with the recipients’ computers. Scammers may ask for money, personal details or passwords or seek to sell worthless products to fix computers.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to a person representing themselves as someone from a computer support centre?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a computer support centre scam, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a computer support centre scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as result from a computer support centre scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

9. Dating and social networking scams - These may use illegitimate or legitimate dating or social networking websites and may require payment for each email sent and received by a potential match. Alternatively, scammers may initiate relationships in order to trick people into paying money.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to pursuing a personal relationship that turned out to be false?

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a dating or social networking scam, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to a dating or social networking scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as result of a dating or social networking scam, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

10. Other scams - A variety of other dishonest invitations from someone the recipient doesn’t personally know involving a type of scam not referred to above.

Over the last 12 months, have you been dishonestly contacted in any way (including by phone, SMS, email, letter, or on the internet and/or in person) by someone you don’t personally know in relation to some other scam type?

Please give details of the type of scam you were most often contacted about:

___________________________

How were you contacted in relation to receiving a scam relating to some other scam type, and how many times were you contacted? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent type of other contact:

___________________________

Over the last 12 months, have you responded in any way to some other scam?

Responding includes contacting the person(s) in any way to request further information, providing your personal details, or sending money etc.

Do not include contact you have had with the person(s) if you were attempting to cease communication or engage in ‘scam baiting’ (pretending to respond to a scam invitation to annoy the scammer without any intention of providing money etc.).

If you sent money as result from some other scam type, what is your best estimate of the total amount of money you have sent in the last 12 months?

Note: This refers to the money you have paid out as a result of a request. This does NOT include money that you would have received if the offer had been legitimate.

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars. E.g. $1000.00 should be entered as $1000

Please indicate the amount sent before any intervention or repayment from insurance, your bank or legal action

Please indicate the amount in whole dollars, do not include dollar signs ($):

___________________________

How many times over the last 12 months have you responded to this type of scam?

Note: Responding can include requesting further information, providing personal details, sending money etc.

Thinking about the most recent time you responded to a scam invitation, how many times were you in contact with the person(s) before you sent money or personal information?

Have you reported this scam to anyone? (Select all that apply)

What was the outcome of reporting either the scam invitation or scam victimisation?

If you did report the scam invitation, how satisfied were you with the outcome of your experience of reporting?

11. If you received any scams that you did not respond to in any way, what was your reason for not responding? (Select all that apply)

If ‘other’, please provide details for your main reason for not responding to the scam:

___________________________

12. If you received a scam that you did report to a formal agency, what was your reason for doing so? (Select all that apply)

If ‘other’, please provide details for the primary reason you reported the scam to a formal agency:

___________________________

13. If you received a scam that you did not report to a formal agency, what was your reason for not doing so? (Select all that apply)

If ‘other’ please provide details for the primary reason you did not report the scam to a formal agency:

___________________________

14. Have you reported any of the scams specified in Q1-10, on behalf of anyone else?

If ‘yes’, please indicate on behalf of whom you reported the scam (select all that apply).

___________________________

15. How do you regard each of the following scam incidents? (Select one response for each type of scam listed)

If ‘other’ please provide details for the most frequent scam received:

___________________________

16. How did you find out about this survey? (Select all that apply)

If ‘other’, please provide details for how you heard about the survey:

___________________________

17. Have you responded to this online survey in any previous years? (Select all that apply)

18. Are you aware of the 2014 fraud awareness campaign run by the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce?

19. Were you aware of any previous campaigns run by the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce?

20. Which age group do you belong to?

21. What is your sex?

22. Where do you normally reside?

Please specify country, if other than Australia or New Zealand:

___________________________

If you normally reside in Australia what is your postcode?

___________________________

If you normally reside in New Zealand, what is your postcode?

___________________________

23. What was your gross income from all sources for the financial year 2012-2013 (i.e. before tax deductions)?

24. Why did you choose to complete this survey? (Select all that apply).

If ‘other’, please provide details for the primary reason you participated in the survey:

___________________________

25. In which capacity did you fill out this survey? (Select one only)

Thank you for completing the 2014 Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Survey. If you are happy with your responses please click the “submit” button below. Alternatively you can review and change your responses and then submit.