Retail workers facing abuse and why phone scams are targetting Aussies

Dealing with angry and abusive customers has become part of the job for many retail workers in Australia. Some retailers have introduced measures like body-worn cameras, extra CCTV and duress alarms to improve safety. But the problem has become so serious that this week a major independent supermarket chain said it's considering closing stores because of violent customer behaviour. Retail workers Megan Sheather and Gabbi Colloff share their experiences. Professor Gary Mortimer, retail consumer behaviour expert, QUT Business School, explains why retail work is so fraught nowadays.

Scams these days are pretty sophisticated. And given the number of ways they can get to you, social media, email, text message, it might feel almost quaint to get a scam phone call. But people lose more money to phone scams than any other method of contact, with Australian victims losing over $107 million dollars this way last year. Kathy Sundstrom is the National Manager of Outreach & Engagement at IDCare and Dr Kate Gould who leads the Monash Cyberability project, explain why scams are so prevalent.

In our regular segment My Two Cents, we ask those questions you'd rather not answer about money. Comedian and former triple j breakfast host Matt Okine shares why sometimes it's ok to make money decisions with your heart, not your head. 

Ballerina Cappuccina, Chimpanzini Bananini, Bombardiro Crocodilo ... do these names mean anything to you? If you know what I'm talking about, you've probably got a tween in your household because they're the latest batch of online memes designed to waste time and turn your brain to mush. It's been labelled brainrot...  Essentially, material designed to waste your time... And it's not just tweens. We're all guilty of it occasionally. Dan Woodman, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Melbourne, explains the appeal behind the scroll.