A new PayID impersonation scam is targeting Australians who are selling used or unwanted items online.
NAB says it is seeing an increase in fake communication surrounding PayID, which is a free and almost instant payment method that uses a person’s phone, email or ABN to send and receive money.
The new scam comes as total fraud reports increased by 38 per cent for the bank in the last year.
NAB Executive Group Executive and Fraud Chris Sheehan said PayID deception was the latest impersonation scam they were seeing reported by customers.
“Just as online marketplaces have replaced garage sales as the go-to option to sell secondhand items, the way we make and receive payments is also changing,” Sheehan said.
“PayID is a relatively new payment method and is quick, safe and simple.”
He said the biggest scam read flag was if someone asked you for money to upgrade or access PayID because the service was free.
“It is also important to remember PayID will never send you an email, text or message directly. If you receive one of these, it is a scam.”
“Cyber criminals are sophisticated and we’re unfortunately now seeing them try to exploit PayID given, on the whole, it isn’t as familiar to the community as other ways to send and receive money.”
Australians lost $260,000 to PayID impersonation scams last year, according to Scamwatch.
NAB said the scammers would push to buy your item using PayID, then claim your transaction couldn’t be completed because you don’t have a “business” account.
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They then claim they’ve sent extra money to upgrade the account, send a fake email as evidence and pressure you to reimburse them but no money will ever appear in your account.
NAB is advising PayID users that the service will never need you to send money to receive a PayID payment.
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You will not need to take additional action, like upgrading an account, to receive funds in your account.
You will also never receive communication directly from PayID via email, text or messenger as the payment method is managed by your bank.
”We will always make every attempt to prevent scams and recover funds where possible, but it can be very difficult to recover them once the funds have left a victim’s account,” Sheean said.
“I urge anyone who thinks they might have been scammed to contact their bank immediately. We are here to help.”
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