Weiters scammed

[DJC]

Sorry DJC.  that's not really good enough.

Yes these institutions need to protect people, but we all have a personal responsibility to fa t check we aren't being hoodwinked, and that is easily done simply by reaching out and talking to people.

The bank calls?  No worries take down the details of who called you and then state I will not divulge anything to you and then contact the bank on their publicly listed contact number not what is provided to you by the scammer.

The ato messages?  You call the ATO.  verify they want to talk to you.

Same goes for anything.  Unsolicited contact must be verified.

I feel for Jacob and anyone scammed but this whole its easily explained situation because I dont have time or under pressure is precisely the feeling the scammers aim to generate and then use to their advantage. 

People having moments of weakness need to recognise those moments and play cautious not simply go along with it.  Every situation is able to be fact checked.  Externalising the blame is the easy way out.  Why wasn't I protected?

Because you didn't protect yourself is the answer.

Sony got hacked.  They lost everyone's details.  They came clean told us all to change our passwords.  I failed to do so and eventually my playstation account was hacked.  It was linked to PayPal and they were able to purchase some games impersonating me.  My fault, I didn't change my password but Sony's fault for getting hacked to begin with.  Sony wore the responsibility for getting hacked.  Luckily they were good about it and refunded my money but if they weren't that was still my fault for not taking ownership of my credentials and changing my password. 

If you leave your house without locking up and someone helps themselves to your property, that's not just people's fault for being thieves or cops fault for not protecting you, that's your fault for not locking up too.

You're probably right Thry ... in an ideal world.  But, in an ideal world, the ATO and CentreLink don't send you text messages and don't make it almost impossible to speak to a real person within a reasonable time.

I've never been scammed but I have had abusive phone calls after not following a scammer's instructions to give him control of my computer.  I am careful with passwords, use a separate account for online transactions, and diligently report scams, phishing attempts and unauthorised transactions but I shouldn't have to be.  Financial institutions, telcos, internet providers and government agencies should really be on top of this, and it's not hard to build in extra levels of security in any IT application.

It really doesn't matter whether you lock your house or not because thieves will gain entry almost as quickly.  It's the alarm and security system monitoring that stops the bastards getting away with your stuff.  I shouldn't have to have an alarm system and security monitoring but locks only keep honest people out.