A PLETHORA of scams continue to rattle the Riverina.
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The latest to hit local residents comes in the form of a sophisticated online attempt to cipher money overseas from innocent victims through emailing a fraudulent speeding fine issued by the Office of State Revenue (OSR).
The Advertiser reported today three separate incidents of online scams from "interested buyers" on classified sites.
News surfaced yesterday that several more residents received a fake speeding notice that demanded penalty payment to avoid future action and costs.
The email stated the fine related to exceeding the speed limit on a length of road by between 10km/h and 20km/h as detected by an approved speed measuring device and recorded by an approved camera recording device as mandated by the Road Transport Act 2014.
While it clearly outlined the offence carried the loss of three demerit points, the notice offered two links to lead to the invoice and the option to view camera images.
The OSR is urging people to show caution when responding to these emails, thought to be based in Denmark and Russia, because money sent overseas is virtually impossible to recover.
"If you receive one of these emails, do not click on any links or pay anything," OSR Fines Administration Commissioner Tony Newbury said.
"OSR or the State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) never issue fines or penalty notices by email in the first instance, so people should treat any notification of this type as suspicious.
"For those who have already unfortunately paid the fine, I'd encourage you to contact your bank or financial institution in the first instance, then report the incident to Scamwatch.
"This is a very sophisticated attack and while the scam emails and prompts may look genuine, they are 100 per cent fake and I urge people not to pay these fraudulent fines.
"I'd also like to use this as a reminder for people to take care to protect their identity online."
Minister for Fair Trading, Matthew Mason-Cox said scams of this kind succeed because they looked like the real thing.
"Scams target everyone regardless of background, age and income," he said.
"I encourage people to be very critical of unexpected requests for money and to be vigilant about ensuring the demand for money is legitimate by checking with the institution that issued the notice."
NSW Fair Trading receives more than 1500 reports on scams each year.
People who receive the described email should log on to the SDRO website, enter the penalty or infringement number and offence date to check the validity of their fine.
Alternatively, phone 1300 655 805 to ensure the fine is genuine.