Beware of online scams

Vigilance is your strongest protection against fraudsters who lure unsuspecting victims into financial scams in the trading industry.

How trading scams often operate:

1. Fraudsters set up enticing websites and social media profiles to persuade visitors that they are accomplished and prosperous financial traders.
2. These scammers might falsely claim to represent real, regulated companies, adding an air of credibility to their deceit.
3. Victims contact the fraudsters about trading opportunities.
4. Fraudsters also regularly initiate contact with potential victims by scraping contact details from online sources.
5. The fraudster attempts to convince you of their service, requests payment, all while falsely assuring the safety of your funds.
6. Within a short span, the scammer may again make contact with the victim, claiming that their investments have doubled. They demand additional payments to release the funds (something which will never actually be done).

Reporting scams

If you believe you have been the victim of a scam, you should promptly report such incidents to ReportCyber either via their online reporting tool or by calling them directly on 1300 292 371.

Ensure you are equipped with as much detailed information as possible when filing your report, including the fraudulent bank account details, transaction dates, amounts, website links, social media accounts and any other contact details.

Securing your digital identity

Stay safe online and keep your digital identity protected from fraudsters by following some simple tips:

• Exercise caution when clicking on links – whether on a website, in an email or via sms messages.
• Never enter your password unless you are absolutely sure that you are on the legitimate website.
• If in any doubt about the website you are on, type www.gomarkets.com into your internet browser directly, and you should be directed to the appropriate GO Markets website for your country.
• If you are suspicious of any communication purporting to be from GO Markets, contact us directly to confirm before taking any requested action.
• Keep your web browser, and security software up to date, and take note of security or phishing warnings that pop-up.
• Enable additional security on your account – GO Markets recommends activating Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) where available.
• Create strong, unique passwords for each account; some good general practices for creating a password are:
  • Do not use personal information like your name, birthday, email address etc.
  • Avoid words related to your activity, or that immediately come to mind, e.g. secret1, trading2, password3.
  • Include a combination of letters, numbers and symbols in your password, as well as a combination of lower and upper case.
  • Use unique passwords for different accounts. By repeating passwords for different accounts, if one is compromised the rest are likely to follow.
  • Use longer passwords. On most online platforms today 8 characters is the minimum required password length; by using more than the minimum required length, you increase the difficulty of guessing passwords my making the length unknown to anyone attempting to access your account.

Additional information

• April 4th 2024 – ASIC shuts down nearly 3,500 scam websites, steps up surveillances in push to protect consumers.