Hervey Bay is a coastal city in southern Queensland where thousands visit each year to spot a humpback whale. It is also a city that is fed up with scammers!

IDCARE held a CROC clinic at the Torquay Saturday markets after probably the biggest rain downpour in months. While our team was a little bit soggy, the venue was fabulous and we were able to set up our stall in front of the CROC truck.

Our trucks (okay, technically they're not trucks, but we think they are) sure do pull a crowd. And when there is a "Scream at a Scammer booth" in front of it, we had many curious onlookers. This provided a great opportunity to start a conversation with people about the scams impacting Hervey Bay. IDCARE data from over 500,000 engagements showed Hervey Bay residents were vulnerable to telephone scams - and the people who visited the clinics had their own stories to tell.

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There was Ellie who was "fed up" with scammers calling her number as she had reached the point she didn't know whether to answer the phone anymore. There was Karen who had many friends seeking her computer expertise to secure their devices as they were afraid to go online. And there were also many tourists who were thankful to see IDCARE out in the community, raising awareness about scams and the simple steps that make a big difference, such as setting up multi-factor authentication on their accounts. Thanks again to our major sponsors, Westpac, Meta and the nbn for making it possible for us to do this!

The market stallholders were grateful to hear about IDCARE's initiative to help small businesses and packages that were available to ease the stress of cyber safety when they already have enough on their hands.

But possibly the message to scammers came from "Pirate Pete", Hervey' Bay's Ian Dinte. Ian has been raising funds for the Hervey Bay Special School for over a decade. He has even transformed his mobility scooter into a "pirate ship". Watch Pirate Pete's message on our Facebook page here.