Australians lost over $851 million to scams last year, a record amount according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard said the Commission’s latest Targeting Scams report was based on more than 444,000 reports and compiled data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, other Government Agencies, as well as 10 banks and financial intermediaries.
Ms Rickard said investment scams accounted for the biggest losses ($328 million) and made up more than a third of total losses.
“Romance scams were the next biggest category, costing Australians $131 million, while payment redirection scams resulted in $128 million of losses,” Ms Rickard said.
“Last year, scam victims reported the biggest losses we have seen, but worse, we expect the real losses will be even higher, as many people don’t report these scams,” she said.
“Unfortunately, scammers continue to become more sophisticated and last year used the COVID-19 pandemic to scam and take advantage of people from all walks of life during this crisis.”
Ms Rickard said that of the $851 million in combined losses, $176 million was reported to Scamwatch alone.
The Deputy Chair said Victoria recorded the highest losses nationwide for the first time with Victorians reporting $49 million in losses to Scamwatch – more than double the losses reported in 2019.
“We saw scammers claiming the Government restrictions meant people could not see items in person before purchase,” she said.
“This was a common ruse in vehicle sale and puppy scams, which both had higher reports and losses.”
Ms Rickard said that in comparison to 2019 figures, health and medical scams increased across the country more than 20-fold and accounted for over $3.9 million in losses; threat-based scams increased by 178 per cent with $11.8 million in losses; and remote access scams increased over 74 per cent with more than $8.4 million in losses.
She said phishing activity also thrived during the pandemic, especially through Government impersonation scams, with over 44,000 reports of phishing scams – a 75 per cent increase.
Ms Rickard said people who detected a scam, whether or not they lost money to it, could report it and learn more about how to get help on the Scamwatch website.
Further information on scams can be accessed at this PS News link.
