The Internet offers a lot of advantages to everyone. Along with these known advantages though, come a plethora of issues continually hounding many people today. From shopping to finding work to buying truck driver income protection online, the risk of encountering scammers engaging in fraudulent activities to earn fast and easy money continually looms. So how can one prevent falling prey to these insurance fraud-hogging vultures online.
Understanding Fraud
Some vultures see the Internet as a haven to commit crimes. While many may believe that fraud can only happen to the least digital literate persons, advancement in technology have put virtually everyone under its horrifying spell. Think about the current debacle in the Equifax data breach or the rising number of insurance fraud not just in Australia, the US or the UK but the rest of the world. Many of these crimes are no longer just committed by hardened thugs or foreign tricksters. Today, fraud has become an easy way out even for the most moral people, who may be living right at your hood, battling financial upheavals.
People who have gone through a financial crisis can verily leap into fraud to find immediate remedy to their problems. Armed with their knowledge of the online world, they look for certain ways to help lower your barrier and find a way to go around easily verifiable information to squeeze out your hard-earned money. It is no longer just insurance companies losing out money to fraudulent claims. Today, many have to combat the looming darkness that fraudsters are willing to do in the hope of getting their way around innocent victims information.
Addressing Insurance and Identity Theft
To truckies trying to obtain an truck driver income protection Australia policy, what could be a simple online request for a quote can turn out to be a worst case of identity theft or financial breach. Tricksters can very well hack into bank accounts, file insurance claims, and so on to take advantage of information one unknowingly given out to unsecured sites. The key is to become an informed consumer. Do not just sign up for any aggregator website or any website that seem to offer the “best” or the “cheapest” income protection insurance coverage for you. At the very least, see the website’s security, background and of any reported scam or fraud. A simple Google search by typing in the name of the website (or its figurehead) and the word “scam” or “fraud” will pull up all relevant data, reports and feedback.
When connecting with an agent or broker, it is also wise to check for license. All insurance agents and brokers in Australia must be accredited by the state or territory where they play. If he or she cannot supply such information on a website or when a site doesn’t even have any trace for you to verify– get out, fast! Online thieves thrive on anonymity and often, have no proof of licensure. So be wary. If something smells rotten then, there may actually be a reason to be worried.
Everything points back at you when trying to prevent truck driver income protection online fraud. You can only be victimized by unscrupulous insurance personalities online if you allow them to be. As always, it is wise to know your agent or broker before you take out a policy. If you wish to connect with reliable ones in the financial insurance industry, call out hotline or send us request so we can connect you with state-accredited ones.