Have you ever received a text message that almost convinced you your mail was missing, that your phone bill needed paying or your password needed resetting? This year, more than ever, it’s likely that you did, with a 13 per cent increase of cyber threats around the country. 

According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Annual Cyber Threat Report, the pandemic has laid the groundwork for over 67,500 cybercrimes being reported over the last financial report, with workers, students, friends, and families being forced to exist in the online space. 

The result is a larger target for scammers to hit. 

Bourke-based IT technician Shane Crombie says that in the last few months, incidents of scams locally have increased locally, some seeing locals lose significant sums of money. 

“A lot of people are getting constant phone calls coming through. Telstra is supposed to fixing that but it hasn’t happened yet,” Mr Crombie said.  

The lockdowns of COVID-19 have been the cause of a significant increase in demand for Australia Post and courier services which has caused lengthy delays. The problem was ideal bait for scammers, where millions of Australians received fake messages to pick-up parcels from alternative points, a plot point that rang true enough for many to become victims. 

Assistant Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie said that the pandemic has created the perfect crime for cyber criminals, actively targeting vulnerable Australians and health services to steal money and sensitive data. 

“The health sector reported the second highest number of ransomware incidents, right at a time when Australians are most reliant on our health workers to help us respond and recover through the pandemic,” Mr Hastie said. 

Government bodies have been the victim of a worrying 35 per cent of the breaches, affecting critical infrastructure organisations including education, communications, electricity, water, and transport. 

While hackers and scamming practices have evolved and become increasingly realistic, concern is rife that the protections in place aren’t adequate to keep up. 

Pitted against computer experts, the capacity of everyday civilians to maintain on their guard in limited. This year alone, the number of calls made to the Cyber Security Hotline increased by 310 per cent to over 22,000.

“Elderly people are pretty vulnerable right now. Young people tend not to answer numbers that they don’t know, but elderly people usually will answer,” Mr Crombie said. 

As the Government continues to face their own cyberbreaches, the line to reach Esafety seemingly moves further and further away. 

Just last year, attacks on 47 Service NSW staff led to the data of 104,000 Australians being breached and 5 million documents being accessed. 

Mr Hastie says that legislation is being looked at to minimise the public risk. 

“We have introduced legislations to ensure that in the event of a large-scale cyber-attack on our critical infrastructure, our cyber and law enforcement agencies are empowered to provide greater and more immediate support to the victims.”

Australians are being urged to take up their own cyber safety responsibility by using strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and regularly backing up data. 

“Always check the email address. Sometimes it might say ANZ bank or something similar, but if you hover over the email address you might see something completely different,” said Mr Crombie. 

To find information on how to recognise, avoid and report scams, visit scamwatch.