The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is urging people not to trust investment opportunities that seem too good to be true as it has recorded a large increase in the amount of money being lost to scams.
Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard said Australians lost over $205 million to scams between 1 January and 1 May this year, a 166 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
“The true losses to scams are likely to be much higher, as our research shows that only around 13 per cent of people report their losses to Scamwatch,” Ms Rickard said.
“The majority of losses over this period have been to investment scams with $158 million lost, an increase of 314 per cent compared to the same period last year,” she said.
“While the reported losses have increased, the number of reports has reduced slightly indicating that on average people reported higher individual losses.”
Ms Rickard said the majority of losses to investment scams involved crypto investments, with $113 million reported lost this year.
The Deputy Chair said cryptocurrency was also the most common payment method for investment scams.
“Australians should be very wary of anyone asking them to invest in or transfer money using cryptocurrency, especially if it’s someone you have only met online,” she said.
“Many consumers are unfamiliar with the complexities of cryptocurrency and this can make them more vulnerable to scams.”
Ms Rickard said the ACCC’s Scamwatch had also seen an increase in imposter bond scams this year, with $10.9m reported lost.
She said the ‘imposter bond’ scams usually impersonated real financial companies or banks and claimed to offer Government/Treasury bonds or fixed term deposits.
“Scamwatch data also shows scam contact methods are changing with text message up 54 per cent between 1 January and 1 May this year, surpassing phone call as the most common contact mode,” Ms Rickard said.
“If you receive an unexpected text message or phone call from someone offering you an opportunity to invest, it is likely a scam and you should immediately hang up or delete the message,” she said.
