South Australian seniors are being urged to be aware of misleading websites which attempt to charge applicants a fee in exchange for a Seniors Card.
The misleading websites (including www.seniorscardportal.au and www.theseniorsassistant.com/apply), claim to be ‘officially approved’ and charge applicants a fee of $29 or more to coordinate the application process.
Seniors should be aware that the legitimate SA Seniors Card is always free of charge and applicants are never requested to pay a fee, or disclose their bank, credit card or PayPal details in exchange for membership.
The official SA Seniors Card website is www.seniorscard.sa.gov.au. Applicants should look for the official Government of South Australia roundel and official Seniors Card logo to ensure they are accessing the correct website before proceeding with an application for membership.
If you have provided payment to an unofficial website:
- contact your bank immediately,
- make a report to Scamwatch, the Australian Government’s National Anti-Scam Centre at www.scamwatch.gov.au, and
- make a report to the Australian Cyber Security Centre at www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report.
If you have been financially impacted by this scam, you should be vigilant of secondary scamming; you may be contacted by a scammer impersonating an authority like a bank. Be alert and if you're unsure, hang up and call your bank directly to confirm the contact was legitimate.
Click here for more information about protecting yourself from scams.