Australian businesses reported over $14 million in losses to Scamwatch due to payment redirection scams last year, and average losses so far in 2021 are more than five times higher compared to average losses in the same period last year.
Total losses are much higher as these scams are reported to a range of different organisations.
In a payment redirection scam, also known as business email…
Australians reported a record-breaking $37 million lost to Scamwatch last year for dating and romance scams. Total losses are expected to be much higher and scammers are now using dating apps to lure victims into investment scams.
This new technique, called romance baiting…
Losses to online shopping scams have increased 42 per cent this year, and Scamwatch is warning Australians to be careful when buying gifts this holiday season.
Scamwatch has received over 12,000 reports of online shopping scams so far this year, with almost $7 million in…
Australians have lost over $8.8 million to threat based scams so far this year, and young people are reporting the highest losses.
Threat based scammers often pretend to be from government departments and rely on fear, intimidation and people’s instinct to comply with authority, to scam victims. These scams are mainly phone-based and impersonate various officials, such as police, ATO officers or…
Australians have lost over $300,000 to rental and accommodation scams this year, an increase of 76 per cent compared to the same time last year.
Scamwatch has received 560 reports of rental scams so far this year, an increase of 56 per cent, with many using tactics related…
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Scamwatch has seen a 55 per cent increase in reports involving loss of personal information this year compared with the same period in 2019, totalling more than 24 000 reports and over $22 million in losses.
This Scams Awareness Week, listen to our new podcast…
Scams target all sections of Australian society including CALD and Indigenous communities
December 20, 2020
Data from the ACCC’s annual Targeting Scams report, released this week, indicates scammers don’t discriminate and are targeting a range of different communities in Australia.
In 2019, people who reported speaking English as a second language lost $13.7 million, an increase of 90 per cent on the previous year, despite the number of reports remaining steady.
This increase was mainly from…
Australians are being urged to watch out for government impersonation scams with over $1.26 million lost from more than 7100 reports made to Scamwatch so far this year and in reality, losses are likely to be far greater.
There has been an increase in scams reported during…
Australians have lost nearly $300,000 to puppy scams this year, and scammers have been particularly targeting those seeking a furry companion during social isolation.
Scamwatch has seen a recent spike in puppy scams and in April reports were almost five times higher than the…
