Also, in the case of the “Hi Mum” scam, in a lot of cases “mum” and “child” are not physically close enough for cash to be an option.
But Cash Is King. 
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Particularly useful for the “help us catch a dishonest bank employee” by withdrawing $ and handing it to the “investigator” (never to be seen again). Or purchasing Gift Cards and telling the scammer the numbers so they can withdraw cash.
Money laundering - where the buyer gives you cash and a small bank transfer, then re-sells the item thereby making a “profit” and legitimising the money.
Not to mention the drug economy couldn’t survive without cash.
Mr Z bought some machinery, paid in cash, then later found it was stolen and he didn’t even have the man’s name, receipt or anything. At least a bank transfer gives some kind of lead.
Exactly right person.At least with cash your in control of the situation.
You have to be dumb to fall for those sorts scams syncretic,and zackarli
Not necessarily so @Buzz3. The non-technologically astute such as older people, those overwhelmed and thus not thinking clearly under the amount of information and communication that assaults many of us on a daily basis, those who may coincidentally have a family member in strife that confuses them to believe, or a myriad of other reasons people who are not ‘dumb’ fall for ‘Hello Mum’ scams.
Some have more ‘street sense’ than others and for the rest, education and warnings can help many but rarely all since recipients of the scam might be good people who just want to help - and don’t think about the context of a ‘cold call text for help’.
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From a certain point of view you have to be dumb to fall for any scam yet it is a thriving business sector worth millions of dollars. Should we not try to help people avoid them nonetheless?
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I suggest that comment deserves more qualification than you gave it.
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OK, I still don’t have much time.
No reason has been given why cash scams are for dumb people and card/deposit scams are not, so saying that cash is superior and will save you is unwarranted.
It isn’t the mode of transfer of value that will save you but the correct attitude and some skills. Even then no matter how smart you are nobody can say they can never be scammed.
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Agree. A case in point, overseas:
scammers impersonating police officers complete with fake id and asking tourists if they would like them to check if they’ve been given fake Euro notes. And sure enough they confirmed that the tourist had been scammed but just hand over the money and call in to the nearest police station to make a report and get compensated.
Apparently it was a very successful scam.
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I always let unknown numbers go unanswered. I believe if it’s a legitimate caller and it’s important they’ll leave a voicemail.
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I’ve had a few of these messages. They make me laugh as they have no idea we don’t have children 
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As with many scams, it’s all about “numbers”.
Try many millions of “customers”.
The whole story will patently fall apart for some of them. For example, if you target everyone as if the target is a Telstra / Optus / Netflix / Spotify / Apple / NBN / Visa / Mastercard / Big 4 bank / … customer then those who are not such a customer can reject the approach out of hand.
For the remaining customers, many of them will not fall for it. (It seems that having an “I need money” code word within families is becoming the norm. 
)
The remaining customers keep you in business i.e. in the business of being a scammer.
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I am not a ‘phone’ person at all. (In fact, this very senior lady has only recently bought a mobile phone. My hand has been forced because of so many sites wanting a confirmation code as an extra security level. However, if the RACV can do that via email as well as mobile phone, then why can’t everyone else I have to ask? I am only using the mobile for that purpose. Sorry, this is just a side comment by me, and nothing to do with the cold caller situation.) When I get such a call, I say “hello” mostly only once (if the caller is lucky, I may say that twice) and then I hang up. I believe that the ‘scammer?’ has called my number and put me on hold until I answer. To heck with that!! They called me, and I have no intention of holding on whilst they decide they will take me off hold. In any case, I would be hanging up regardless, as there is absolutely nothing I would buy or consider buying…of any sort, over the phone from a cold caller. If I want anything I will source for myself, direct from a company. A friend or relative would always speak straight away when I answer, so that isn’t a problem for me to deal with these others the way I do.
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I think there is the perception that
- email is more easily subverted than text, and
- email is not independent of the thing that it is protecting (e.g. internet banking and email are on the same computer so if the computer is completely compromised by malicious software then receiving a “confirmation code” via email is not a strong security measure to protect internet banking).
Up to a point this logic is sound but it has the significant disadvantages that
- if a person doesn’t already have a mobile phone, it might force that person to get a mobile phone, and then
- that person can be spammed by the relevant businesses with text messages (between the times that they are sending you confirmation codes), and of course
- a mobile phone in the hands of someone who doesn’t really want one is actually an increase to the total security risk (solves one problem but adds a new problem).
Not every business is necessarily free to choose (may be compelled by government) but where the business is free to choose it can be a question of the business’s choice rather than what they “can” do.
