Scam alert - No Interest Loans Scheme

The department has received reports of unauthorised websites containing misleading and inaccurate information about the national No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS). 

NILS is delivered in collaboration with Good Shepherd and the National Australia Bank. 

The unauthorised websites may appear as search results through web browsers, and some are posing as Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (GSANZ) or NILS community providers. 

The websites provide inaccurate information on NILS loan limits and repayments, and asks individuals to provide their myGov and or bank account sign in and password details as part of the ‘loan application’ process.

NILS staff will never: 

• Contact you via social media. If you have contacted Good Shepherd through the chat function they will only provide general information about how to apply for a NILS loan 
• Ask you for sensitive financial information such as online banking passwords or codes
• Ask for your sign in to online banking through a link sent via text or email
• Ask for your myGov sign in and password details
• Ask for you to download software
• Ask for you to transfer money 
• Ask you to set up a bank account with a specific provider to have money transferred. 

What to do if you are contacted by a scam attempt

You should not click on links from these websites or provide personal information that may put you at risk. This includes contact initiated through social media offering NILS loans, either from an unfamiliar account or from an existing ‘friend’ contact profile that may have been taken over by a scammer.

Information about NILS should only be obtained from a trusted source such as the Good Shepherd website No Interest Loans (NILS) – Good Shepherd and No Interest Loans (NILS) for Vehicles – Good Shepherd or via one of Good Shepherd community service providers who can be found at Find a NILs Provider – Good Shepherd which includes their phone number so you can verify it is a trusted source. 

If you think you have been scammed you should consider the following actions:

• Block all contact from the scammer
• Call your bank and/or financial institution as soon as possible to let them know about the scam 
• Create new passwords
• Watch for suspicious contact such as emails, phone calls, texts, or messages through social media and do not click on any links sent to you
• Monitor your bank account for unauthorised transactions
• Report to Scamwatch
• If the scam is an advertisement, report it to the social media platform using their ad settings button
• Report it to the police.

Find out more:

If you are contacted by one of these scams, do not provide any personal or financial information. 

Report it to GSANZ by sending screenshots and details to: communications@goodshep.org.au

For the Department of Social Services, report it to fraud@dss.gov.au

Further advice on scams is available from the National Anti-Scam Centre: Scamwatch

Last updated: 2 August 2024 - 4:27pm