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Riverina event hosts are increasingly battling online scammers who are targeting their social media feeds in a bid to rob fans of their hard-earned cash. The Tumbarumba Rodeo was forced to make a public announcement on its Facebook page at the weekend after overseas-based profiles spammed fans with details and links to a livestream purporting to be of the New Year’s Day event. Former Riverina woman Mary Reeves couldn’t make it to the annual rodeo, where a tribute was held for her late uncle, community and rodeo stalwart Paul ‘Dought’ Doughty. But a string of links promoting a livestream of the rodeo posted in comments on the event’s Facebook page caught Ms Reeves’s eye. “It really got me, because I’m in Brisbane [and they were] doing a minute’s silence for Uncle Paul,” Ms Reeves said. It seemed like the perfect compromise, so she began to sign up, with the plan to watch with her mother – Paul’s sister – who lives with dementia and cannot travel. In other news A $3 charge and 20 minutes later, the supposed livestream service emailed to say it was about to add another $80 payment on the credit card despite not being anywhere near the 24-hour option Ms Reeves signed up for. With banks closed for the long weekend, she swiftly put a block on the credit card and called other relatives to warn them of the the sham stream. It was a second blow after being unable to make it to the funeral when Mr Doughty passed away in July. Once aware, the rodeo…
