With reports of cybercriminals impersonating areas within the Victorian Government, including Business Victoria, small businesses need to be on the alert for scams. These scams could come in the form of phone calls, text messages or emails.

Protect yourself and your small business by becoming familiar with the latest scams and steps you can take to improve your cybersecurity.

Business Victoria scams

Phone calls

Reports show that cybercriminals are calling small business owners, pretending to be Business Victoria and asking for sensitive information. These scams all revolve around asking questions to gain data/information about your small business.

Here are the latest scams relating to phone calls:

1. Asking if you have moved office
2. Pretending to be from the State Government and conducting research

Think you’re being scammed?

There are occasions when Business Victoria will need to contact businesses directly. This may be in relation to:

• grant applications
• participation in programs and services
• stakeholder consultation.

If you get a call from a genuine representative of Business Victoria, they will be calling in relation to something you initiated or are familiar with, such as a grant application, program, service or in response to a query from you. Any information they request will be related to those matters.

If you are unsure that it is a genuine call from Business Victoria, you can request the representative send you an email which will come from a verified ‘.vic.gov.au’ email address with the representative's name and an email signature block.

If you’re ever in doubt, contact us immediately to find out if you’re being scammed. You can visit the contact us page or call us on 13 22 15 (local call).

Have you received a suspicious message? Don’t click it. You can report scams to info@business.vic.gov.au.

Improve your cybersecurity

For more information on the latest scams, visit the Australian Signals Directorate website.

Find out how you can improve your cybersecurity by reading our article: Recognising and protecting your business from cybersecurity threats.