REP 15 Hook line and sinker: Who takes the bait in cold calling scams?
Released June 2002
A more detailed report about the experiences of Australians who were cold called based on research ASIC undertook.
This report is one of two reports ASIC has released about international cold calling investment scams.
The other report, International Cold Calling Investment Scams outlines more about the extent of the scam, how it works and what ASIC and other authorities have done and propose to do about theproblem. That report is freely available in hardcopy (from infoline@asic.gov.au or 1300 300 630) and from ASIC's FIDO web site: www.fido.asic.gov.au (under the special cold calling link). This report is a more indepth look at the consumer side of the scam. You may find some overlap between the two reports, but you will find that even where this occurs, either report has greater or lesser detail than the other according to its purpose. Because they complement each other, we recommend you read them both.
The cold calling scam characteristics outlined in this paper are based on the experiences of people who have contacted ASIC and are therefore not necessarily representative of all of those who may have been scammed. In addition, cold calling operators may modify elements of the scam over time (for example they may choose to operate out of regions other than Asia). For this reason, the cold calling practices featured in this report should only be read as indicators of how cold calling scams can operate, rather than components of a definitive model.