Help with your security

Perpetual Equity Investment Company (Perpetual) is committed to protecting the security of your personal information and helping you to be better protected against online and social media scams and fraud. 

This page contains information on cybercrime, or online criminal activity, that may attempt to target clients and members of the public. We urge you to take suspicious activity seriously.

Current scams

November 2022: Impersonation on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Please be aware of scammers falsely impersonating a member of Perpetual Equity Investment Company's investments team targeting investors through social media platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram. Perpetual will not engage with anyone providing investment advice on these platforms. These are not legitimate approaches from Perpetual Equity Investment Company.  

August 2022: Impersonation on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Please be aware of scammers falsely impersonating a member of Perpetual Equity Investment Company's investments team targeting investors through social media platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram. Perpetual will not engage with anyone providing investment advice on these platforms. These are not legitimate approaches from Perpetual Equity Investment Company. 

How to protect against scams and fraud

Scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and its important you protect yourself against fraud and potential harm by being aware and cautious when receiving any unsolicited calls, text messages, emails or messages on social media platforms from anyone pertaining to be from a legitimate organisation.

Ensure you always complete a thorough investigation of any investment opportunity to make sure you are receiving advice from a legitimate business.

Always validate the advice by independently visiting the claimed company’s website and where appropriate contacting the company via a publicly advertised phone number to validate that the request or offer is legitimate.

Have you received a suspicious message (spam or phishing)?

Spam

Spam emails are unsolicited email newsletters and notifications that are sent to a lot of people at a time to promote fake products or business scams. If you receive spam email, we recommend you do not reply to it, or click on any links in the email. Refer to your email settings to block it as “junk”.

Spam can also be received as an SMS message. SMS messages should be treated with the same vigilance as emails. As with email, we recommend that you do not reply to the SMS, or click on any links in the message.

Personal and private information should never be shared in response to an unsolicited email or SMS when you have not confirmed that the sender is legitimate.

If you receive an email or SMS that is or claims to be from Perpetual requesting personal or private information (or a Perpetual staff member) and is unsolicited please reach out to our contact centre at 1800 022 033. For Perpetual Private clients, please contact us on 1800 421 712.

Phishing

Phishing emails are unsolicited emails that often use some of your personal information or seem to come from a known contact or business to trick you into installing malware (malicious software) on your computer, or which use other methods to steal your personal information or money, such as encouraging you to click a link that takes you to a fake website.

Phishing emails are becoming more sophisticated and may claim to be from a person you know and can generally be identified as being unexpected, or asking for personal information that you would not normally share with an unauthorised person.

Criminals often find and use personal information that is easily accessible on the internet but in rare cases it may represent a more serious breach of your personal information.

Phishing attempts can also come via SMS messages. SMS messages should be treated with the same vigilance as emails. As with email, we recommend that you do not reply or click on any links in the message.

Please note there is an increase in phishing email and SMS messages claiming to be from government, charity or large organisations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We do encourage you to be vigilant – if you are suspicious of an email or SMS claiming to represent Perpetual or be from a Perpetual staff member (even if you know them), please do not click on any links in the email or respond to it. Please reach out to our contact centre at 1800 022 033. For Perpetual Private clients, please contact us on 1800 631 381.

Please view the resources at the bottom of this page for more information on reporting to the relevant authorities.

Something suspicious on social media

With the popularity of social media, criminals may attempt to trick you through social channels. They may impersonate Perpetual or a Perpetual staff member and send unsolicited and undesirable messages through social media.

If you encounter a suspicious social media presence that claims to represent Perpetual, please take a screenshot (if you are able) or write down the name of the account and the social media channel (e.g. Facebook), and reach out to our contact centre at 1800 421 712. 

Perpetual employees do not engage with clients or members of the public using social media platforms WhatsApp or Telegram. If you are contacted by someone pertaining to be an employee of Perpetual and providing investment advice - it’s a scam and should also be immediately reported to authorities through https://www.scamwatch.gov.au

Have you visited a fake website?

Sometimes, criminals will attempt to trick you by copying the website of a well known business that you have dealt with. This is often part of a phishing activity.

Fake websites often have misspellings in the website name, unusual grammar and spelling, or inconsistencies in various pages. Our official website address is https://www.perpetual.com.au

If you find yourself on a website that makes you suspicious, please copy the website address (the text in the address bar that will look similar to this: www.websitename.com.au) and reach out to our contact centre at 1800 421 712.

Then please leave the website quickly and be careful not to visit that website again.

Reporting a scam

If you have encountered and would like to report a scam, please use https://www.scamwatch.gov.au

If you have been the victim of one of these scams (cybercrime) and someone has stolen your personal information or money, your first step should be to report it to the relevant authorities.

For life threatening, out of business hours and serious risks, please contact the police.

We are committed to reporting any cases of scams using Perpetual or pertaining to be an employee of Perpetual. Please contact our contact centre at 1800 421 712.

For other reporting to relevant authorities, please use the links at: https://www.cyber.gov.au/report

Stay up to date

For current alerts on scams: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au

For general information on your online safety: https://www.staysmartonline.gov.au

For learning more about recognising and reporting scams: https://www.cyber.gov.au/learn/scams 

For information about protecting your identity: https://www.idcare.org

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