This predatory practice is known as "scambling" or "ding ding" and is having a significant impact on Indigenous communities.
Financial counsellors say that in some Northern Territory communities, up to 90 per cent of their clients have transaction patterns on their bank statements consistent with scambling activity. Losses are already in the millions of dollars, and First Nations people are being disproportionally targeted.
But while the problem is growing, so is awareness. The more everyone talks about these scams, the better protected families and communities will be.