Scams and Fraud Warning

Scams and other fraudulent activities are designed to deceive you, and are a major cause of financial loss in Australia and the world. RateCity has been made aware of a number of ways fraudsters and criminals are using Canstar Group (including RateCity) to attempt to trick consumers into handing over their financial details and personal information in recent months. 

To date, these activities have included emails, fraudulent calls, and websites purporting to be from the Canstar group, or offering loan services directly from RateCity or the Canstar Group.

This is a scam type known as "phishing", and one of the most reported scam types according to the ACCC's Scamwatch.

We're alerting all our readers to this and other types of fraudulent activity so you know what to look out for, the steps you can take to protect yourself online, and to feel safe using our website. 

Canstar and its associated subsidiaries do not undertake cold calls, meaning we won't be calling you out of the blue to ask for financial or personal information. If you've been called by someone offering to sell you a product or service, or requesting personal information and claiming to be from Canstar, Canstar Blue, or RateCity, these calls are fraudulent. 

Scammers can also send emails asking to "verify" and "record" personal financial details, either by replying to the email or clicking a link to go to a phishing website. Please do not provide any information in response to unsolicited phone calls or emails, and be aware of how scam websites can present themselves. 

While a cloned website can look the same, phishing websites will have a different website domain URL, where the "www" typically goes. Websites in the Canstar group will always have the following in the beginning of their website addresses: 

• Canstar: https://www.canstar.com.au
• Canstar Blue: https://www.canstarblue.com.au
• RateCity: https://www.ratecity.com.au

Fraudsters and scammers can't use the real website links and so may try to imitate those addresses by using something similar, often with an extra letter, such as "canstarr" or "rateciity". If you're worried you've visited a fake website used for phishing, check the website address clearly. 

Canstar Group will never call asking you for sensitive information or financial details, nor will it ask you to click on a link and provide bank account information. If you or anyone you know has received a telephone call or email like this, please contact us immediately at [email protected]