Stop
Pause before sending money, identity documents, login codes or a signature. Urgency, secrecy and fear are tools. A real employer, landlord, bank or government service can survive an independent check.
FULL ENGLISH GUIDE — BETA
Avoid scams and exploitation in Australia
Recognise the pattern, stop the loss and reach the right service. This page names methods, not alleged offenders. Sources checked 2026-08
Editorial status: this is a complete English editorial draft, not an Australian Government publication and not yet reviewed by a native-speaking Australian consumer-protection or victim-support professional. The linked regulator, police, bank and service pages always control.
If money, identity details or account access have already been lost
- Immediate danger: call 000. Move to a safe place before collecting evidence or confronting anyone.
- Money: call your bank or card provider now using the number in its official app, on your card or on a website you found independently. Ask it to stop or recall transactions and secure the account.
- Accounts: from a device you trust, secure your email first, then banking, myGov, social and shopping accounts. Use new, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication.
- Identity: if a passport, driver licence, TFN or other identity detail was shared, contact IDCARE for a free recovery plan and notify the issuing organisation.
- Evidence and reporting: save the conversation, advertisement, profile, URL, receipts, account details and timeline. Scamwatch helps disrupt scams; ReportCyber is the online police-report route for cybercrime.
- Follow-up scams: do not pay anyone who promises to recover the money, hack the scammer or unlock frozen funds.
1. Stop, check, protect
Check independently
Do not use the link, phone number, QR code or email supplied by the person asking for something. Find the organisation's official website or app yourself and contact it through that channel.
Protect
Share only what is necessary after the person and purpose are verified. Keep passports and one-time login codes under your control. Act quickly if money or information has already moved.
A real-looking detail is not proof. A scammer can copy a logo, business name, address, ABN, job-platform profile, rental photo, caller ID or government reference number. Match several facts through independent official channels.
2. Practice: immediate red flag or no automatic red flag?
Interactive quiz
Eight short situations covering jobs, trials, accommodation, government impersonation, rental and contracting. “No automatic red flag” never means “proven safe”; the explanation matters more than the score.
3. Job offers and workplace exploitation
Your employer cannot cancel your visa. Only the Department of Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel a visa. Fair Work says migrant workers keep their workplace entitlements and protections even if they have not followed a visa rule.
Pay money to make money
Unexpected recruiters may offer high pay for easy remote tasks, move the chat to WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal, and ask you to transfer money, PayID or cryptocurrency to start or unlock earnings. A small early payment or fake account balance can be used to build trust.
Walk away if: you must pay a recruitment fee, top up an account, buy products, receive parcels, transfer money for someone else or recruit more people. Moving money for another person can make you a money mule, not an employee.
Check: call the named company or agency using contact details you found independently. A trusted job platform can still carry a fake advertisement.
A real ABN does not make an offer safe
Use ABN Lookup to compare the legal name, entity type, status and location with the offer, contract and payslip. But ABN Lookup only confirms registration data. A scammer can copy an innocent business's ABN, and an active business can still break workplace law.
Ask for the role, employee or contractor status, Award or classification, rate, pay cycle, deductions, work address and supervisor in writing. Contact the business through an independently found channel if the recruiter identity is uncertain.
Underpayment, cash work, unpaid trials and fake contracting
Cash payment is not automatically unlawful, but employees still need the correct pay, a payslip, tax treatment and super when eligible. A long productive “trial” is not free labour. Being told to get an ABN does not turn an employee into an independent contractor.
Keep your own start, finish and break times. Compare the first payslip and bank payment with the written offer and the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool. Read the full English workplace guide before accepting “everyone here is a contractor” or “backpackers do not get workplace rights.”
Work tied to accommodation or visa evidence
Be cautious when accommodation fees must be paid before any shifts exist, leaving the accommodation means losing work, or someone threatens to withhold genuine work records. Get job conditions, accommodation price, refund terms and transport deductions separately in writing.
No hostel, labour-hire intermediary or employer can promise a second or third WHM visa. You must actually complete eligible work under the rules for your subclass and preserve genuine evidence. Never buy payslips, signatures or specified-work records.
Passport retention, debt, threats or restricted movement
Keep control of your passport. An employer may need to verify work rights, but taking your original document, controlling your pay, making you work off a debt, restricting movement or threatening harm or immigration action can indicate forced labour or another serious offence.
If there is immediate danger, call 000. For suspected human trafficking, slavery or labour servitude, contact the Australian Federal Police on 131 237 or use its Commonwealth crime form. Do not confront a suspected exploiter if doing so may increase danger.
4. Visa and migration-help scams
- No one can guarantee approval or a faster decision. Check visa requirements and conditions on Home Affairs and in your own ImmiAccount.
- You remain responsible for your application. Do not allow anyone to add false work, relationships, documents or statements, even if they say this is normal.
- Check anyone offering immigration assistance. In Australia, only an OMARA-registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner or a legally exempt person may provide immigration assistance; an exempt person must not charge a fee. Search the register yourself and match the person, MARN and contact details.
- Retain access. Keep copies of every form, attachment, payment receipt and message from Home Affairs. Do not accept “we lodged it” as the only evidence.
- Use official channels. Type the Home Affairs address yourself. Do not pay a caller, social-media account or message claiming that immediate payment will prevent arrest, cancellation or deportation.
5. Rental and accommodation scams
- Inspect inside before paying. A real address, video call or drive-by does not prove that the advertiser can rent it to you. If you are overseas, use short-term accommodation first or ask a trusted person to inspect.
- Search independently. Search the address, photos, advertiser name, email and phone. Compare the same property across listings. Contact the named agency through its official site.
- Get the agreement and payment details first. Confirm who receives the rent and bond, what the amount covers, refund terms, condition report and the state or territory bond process. Rules differ across Australia.
- Limit identity documents. Ask why each document is needed and how it will be protected. Watermark a copy for its specific purpose when appropriate; never send account passwords or one-time codes.
- Keep evidence. Pay through a traceable channel to the verified party and keep the advertisement, agreement, receipt, entry report and messages.
Pressure test: “I am overseas,” “many people are waiting,” “send the bond now,” an unusually low price and refusal of an in-person inspection are multiple red flags, not reasons to rush.
6. Money, messages, identity and used cars
Government, bank, police or embassy impersonation
Caller ID, uniforms, logos, your personal details and even an official-looking reference number can be faked or misused. End the contact. Find the organisation's real number or app yourself and start a new conversation.
Do not transfer money, buy gift cards or cryptocurrency, install remote-access software, share screen images, reveal one-time codes or move funds to a “safe account.” Language fluency is not proof: criminals may contact you in your first language and claim to be an authority from your home country.
ATO, myGov, parcel and account phishing
Do not sign in through an unsolicited text, email or social-media link. Open the official app or type the known website address. Protect your TFN, myGov sign-in, passport, driver licence, bank details and one-time codes.
If an ATO interaction feels wrong, stop and verify it on the ATO site or call 1800 008 540. If ATO identity information may be compromised, follow the ATO's identity-support instructions rather than replying to the original contact.
Private transfers, PayID screenshots and cryptocurrency
A screenshot, pending transfer or balance shown inside someone else's app is not settled money in your own account. Do not release cash, a vehicle, goods or cryptocurrency until your financial institution confirms the payment is available and irreversible risks are understood.
A stranger offering unusually favourable currency exchange or asking you to receive and forward money creates scam, money-laundering and account-freeze risk. Use regulated services and independently verify the recipient.
Used-car checks before private payment
Match the seller's identity with the registration and vehicle. Verify the VIN on the vehicle, arrange an independent mechanical inspection and follow the registration authority's transfer process for the relevant state or territory.
Run the Australian Government's PPSR search using the VIN, preferably again on the day money changes hands. The online search costs AUD 2 and can show a registered security interest plus recorded stolen or written-off status. It does not show ownership history, odometer readings, fines or every mechanical problem.
7. Build a safe evidence pack
- Write a timeline with dates, time zone, promises, requests, payments and what happened next.
- Save the original advertisement, full URL, profile identifier, email headers where available, phone number and unedited conversation.
- Keep bank receipts, PayID or wallet details, invoices, contracts, payslips, rosters and property or vehicle identifiers.
- Record what you did after discovery: bank contact, password changes, platform reports and reference numbers.
- Store a copy somewhere the other person or employer cannot remove.
Do not publish a blacklist or personal details. Send evidence to the relevant platform, bank, regulator or police. Public accusations can expose victims, alert an offender, identify the wrong party or create legal risk.
8. Use the right reporting route
| What happened | First route | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate danger or crime in progress | 000 | Safety first. Do not delay for screenshots. |
| Money transferred or card/bank access exposed | Your bank or card provider | Use its independently verified official contact immediately. |
| Scam contact, advertisement or website | Scamwatch report | Helps disruption and warnings; it is not a police report. |
| Online theft, identity crime, extortion or hacking | ReportCyber | National online police-report path for cybercrime. |
| Passport or identity details exposed | IDCARE | Free recovery planning; also notify the issuing organisation. |
| Underpayment, no payslip or workplace exploitation | Fair Work | Visa holders have workplace rights; anonymous reporting and language help are available. |
| Visa fraud or unlawful immigration assistance | Border Watch | Home Affairs says reports can be anonymous. |
| Forced labour, passport retention, servitude or trafficking | AFP 131 237 or online form | Call 000 if there is immediate danger. |
| Suspicious ATO communication | ATO 1800 008 540 | Verify through an independently found ATO channel. |
| Language help to call an Australian service | TIS National 131 450 | Ask the interpreter to connect you to the organisation. |
Help improve this English guide
If an official route changed or the English is unclear, open a public GitHub issue. Do not attach identity documents, bank details, private dispute evidence or another person's identifying information.
Scope: general scam-safety and service-routing information only. It is not legal, financial, migration, policing or emergency advice. We deliberately describe repeatable methods rather than naming companies, farms, landlords, recruiters or individuals.