You could be eligible for a government rebate.
Wait! This could be a scam.
Welcome to my School, Stevie's Scam School. Yeah, great.
Hello. My name is Stevie, the reformed scam artist,
and I'm here to teach you how to avoid being scammed.
This lesson I call "The Rebate Scam". It can be hard to spot, so pay close attention.
In this scam, I'd pretend I'm an employee of the government,
bank or any other well-known company I can think of.
I'd jump on the phone, give you a call and put on my trusty professional voice again:
Hello. I'm calling from the Australian government regarding overpaid taxes.
It seems we've made an error in our records and we owe you a sum of money!
Now here's the catch and boy, it's a good one. I'll tell them that to receive the money they're owed,
they have to pay an administration fee by transferring money into an account.
The poor souls don't know what hit them!
They jump on the computer, send over the administration fee and BANG! - right into my account.
They wait around for their payment from the government, but it never comes. They don't receive a cent!
I do though.
Now, I've heard many tales of these kind of tricks around the traps.
Some people are told that they've overpaid their bills,
that their pension has been underpaid or even that they're owed cash for overpaid bank fees.
What a scam!
So be cautious of unexpected calls or letters.
These organisations will never contact you and ask for up-front payment in return for money owed.
And beware of fake websites. Often the scammers will send links to websites that look like the real deal.
So it's best to call up the company or the relevant government department directly and make sure for yourself.
So, if anyone ever tells you they owe you money, don't always expect to see it.
Just ask me landlord! Sound effect: Someone pounding on the door.
Oh, sorry Betty!
Stevie's Scam School. Yeah! Nice!