Tuesday afternoon at 4pm – it’s the time of the day and week when we are at our most hectic, rushing to school pick-up, battling traffic or finishing up at work.
It’s no accident that this is also the time scammers are most likely to strike, according to an analysis of Westpac transaction data.
The second and third most popular times for scammers are also in the afternoon, on Thursday and Monday.
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Westpac’s head of fraud prevention Ben Young said scammers set out to take advantage of people when they were distracted.
“We’re seeing a clear pattern where scammers are striking later in the day, most commonly on Tuesday afternoons, when people are multitasking and not paying close attention to the signs that something could be a scam,” Young said.
“You might receive a suspicious message in the morning, but it’s often in the late afternoon, when your guard is down, that you act on it.
“That’s the window scammers are counting on, and this is why it’s so important for people to stay alert and take a moment to think before clicking links, sharing information or sending money.”
The Westpac data showed 80 per cent of scam cases happen from lunchtime onwards, and 85 per cent occured during weekdays.
The most common type of scam employed by fraudsters on busy weekday afternoons is the remote access scam, making up 30 per cent of the total cases.
“These scams are designed to catch people off-guard,” Young said.
“In particular, remote access scams often involve a sense of urgency or technical confusion, perfectly timed for when people are less focused.”
