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How to spot a scam: what to do & how to stay safe

Not sure if a message from Origin is real or not? There are a number of things that are important to look out for.

Dee avatar
Written by Dee
Updated over 4 months ago

Email scam alert: 6 December 2024

  • We’re aware of an email scam that’s telling customers they have a refund from Origin. We do tell customers when they have a credit on a closed account and how they can get a refund. Please check the sender address carefully to ensure an email is from us – common domain names we send from are @originenergy.com.au, @origin.com.au and @ecomms.origin.com.au

  • We believe scammers are phishing for genuine Origin customers using random email addresses

  • Please be alert and on the lookout for scams. If you're not 100% sure an email is from us, don't enter any payment details or click through any links. To see your account balance, go to My Account or the Origin app.

If you clicked a link in a suspicious email and entered personal or payment details, you should act immediately. See Recent scam updates for more info and instructions.

How to spot scams

  1. If you’ve received an email, check the email address. Though we send emails from many domains (that’s the part after the ‘@’ symbol), most often you’ll see:

  2. Look out for spelling mistakes or bad grammar – these are often a clue that it’s not from us

  3. Look carefully at any links – do they point to origin.com.au or originenergy.com.au? We've seen scam websites posing under originnergy.com.au so look carefully at the website address

  4. The only safe and trusted way for you to pay your Origin bills online is via My Account or the Origin app or at originenergy.com.au/pay. Anything asking you to make an Origin payment outside of those could be a scam.

  5. Never reply to text messages with personal details, especially not credit card or bank account details

  6. Send details of the scam to Origin at digitalsecurity@originenergy.com.au

What to do if you think you’ve been scammed

It's important to act as soon as you can.

  1. Contact your bank immediately and get their advice on whether to cancel your cards or block your accounts

  2. If you’ve ‘logged in’ to the scam website with your My Account details, change your password in My Account or the Origin app, or contact us ASAP so we can help you reset your password. If you use the same password on other websites, you should change those as well

  3. There are free services like ID Care and CreditSavvy that can help you with free ways to protect yourself again ID and Credit fraud. Read more about these at our post on keeping your details secure online.

How to reduce phone, email and SMS scams

Phone, SMS and email scams are unfortunately getting more common and more sophisticated at getting people to hand over money or personal information.

Have you ever answered a call from a number that looks innocent, but has a robot at the other end? Or maybe you’ve heard, "I’m calling from the tax office and letting you know the outstanding payments must be paid ASAP."

If you get any feeling that this could be a scam, a good rule to follow is to hang up or delete the SMS or email.

If you’re wondering if the call, email or SMS was legitimate, you can always call or email the company using the contact details on their website to check. Never return the scam call or text because this will confirm your number exists.

Find out how to stay scam safe or report a scam through ScamWatch, a service led by the National Anti-Scam Centre, which works with government, business, law enforcement and the community to make it harder to scam Australians.

Common examples of scam calls, emails and SMSs

  • Issues with your bank account – “There were irregularities, and they need your details to confirm it’s you”

  • Payments to the tax department – “You owe $2,000 and need to pay now”

  • You’ve won a competition – “You’ve won a $10,000 random prize”

  • Fake charity – someone appeals to your human side to donate to a fake charity

  • Jobs and employment – someone running a pyramid scheme asks you to join, or you get offers of work if you pay for a ‘training course’

  • Tech support for your computer (remote access) – “You have a virus, and we want to log in to your computer to get rid of it for you”

  • False billing – You’re sent a fake invoice

  • False refund – You’re sent an email that says a company owes you a refund

  • Dating and romance scams – A love interest from a dating app is asking for money

  • Threats to life – “If you do not pay, we will hurt you or your family”

  • Online shopping scams – Someone offers fake items for sale

  • Law enforcement – Someone posing as the police, border enforcement or customs sends an email

Scam phone call red flags

  • You don’t recognise the number

  • You weren’t expecting a call

  • The call’s coming from a private number

  • The call voice is robotic

  • The quality of the call is poor

  • The tone is aggressive, threatening or unprofessional

  • The caller asks for immediate access to your computer

  • The call’s from an international number – do not call back

  • The caller asks for financial details, like a credit card or bank details

  • The caller asks for personal details like your full name, date of birth and address

SMS red flags

  • The SMS doesn’t use your name (note, though, some scam SMSs will use your name)

  • The SMS is generic looking

  • You’re asked to click a link that looks suspicious

  • You don’t recognise the number

  • The SMS asks for your personal detail

  • The SMS has spelling or grammatical errors

  • You’re asked to respond urgently

How to report a scam

  • If you come across a scam, please report it to Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam. This will increase awareness so others aren’t affected by it.

  • Send details of the scam to Origin at digitalsecurity@originenergy.com.au

  • Let your family, friends, colleagues and fellow businesses know about scams you’ve come across

  • Report the scam if it occurred on social media

Tips for being safer

  • Don’t give out your details or send money

  • Let the phone call go to voicemail and then listen to any message left to see if it could be genuine

  • Block and delete any numbers or SMSs that are suspicious or unknown

  • Regularly review and update your social media privacy settings

  • Register your phone on the do not call register at donotcall.gov.au

  • Choose strong and secure PINs and passwords, and regularly update them

  • Never share PINs or passwords

  • Keep your mobile and computer secure by regularly checking for security updates

  • Don’t download or click on anything suspicious

  • Be careful when shopping online and consider using platforms like PayPal when paying for items

And remember – if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

What to do if you’ve been scammed

Related articles

How do you tell a scam from a real Origin message?
​Scam emails and what to do

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