Ever received a scam text from Australia Post while you're waiting for a package? Or a fake toll notice after you've driven on a toll road? Experts say data collected by the online advertising industry could be behind it.
David Niven received a scam text message for a toll payment after using a toll road.The online ad industry may be providing scammers with the tools to target Australians more efficiently.
Mr Niven may be more suspicious than most, having worked as a consumer rights lawyer for almost 40 years.But the timing of the text message checked out, and he decided to follow the link. The bank cancelled the fraudulent transaction, and his understandable, if somewhat misplaced, outrage had saved him from becoming a victim of fraud.How do scammers know when to text you?
That data might indicate whether you are expecting a parcel in the post, or if you have recently used a toll road.ABC NEWS: Patrick StoneAs the ABC reported this week, a recent investigation by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties found the RTB system sends information about an individual Australian 449 times a day on average.
"But then there's information about whether you've been purchasing sexual health goods, and maybe that's great if you're selling condoms, but that little piece of data could quite obviously be misused." "You're going to have to go to a scammer to find out precisely what they're doing … but we've looked at this logically," she said.
Scams Australia Post Road Tolls Fraud Location Data Information Personal
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