Scammers target aged care businesses
Scammers are targeting aged care providers with fake bills for bogus advertisements. Consumer Affairs Victoria has received several reports from aged care businesses affected by the ‘unauthorised advertising’ scam.
In a recent report, an aged care business was offered a free entry in a directory and artwork was arranged for the advertisement.
Later, the scammer sent the artwork to the aged care business for proofing and asked them to fax confirmation. A note in the fine print said the listing would cost $1,995 plus GST – and the business was invoiced for this amount.
In other versions of the scam, the invoice may be:
- for an advertisement that the business has not ordered
- for a publication that doesn’t exist or has limited distribution
- using the details of an advertisement previously ordered, but for a different publication
- a contract for services, disguised as an invoice.
Consumer Affairs Victoria urges all businesses to:
- organise filing and accounting systems to detect bogus accounts or invoices
- check to see whether the publication is genuine and ask for information about circulation
- always check the invoice is for a publication that has been authorised
- Under the Australian Consumer Law, publishers must get written authorisation from businesses before placing advertisements.
For more information about this type of scam, view Consumer Affairs Victoria ‘Unauthorised Advertising Scam’ page.
