Australians lost $2.74 billion (US$1.77 billion) in scams in 2023, with people over 65 years of age suffering the largest losses.
Although the latest figures represent a 13.1 percent decline in scam losses from the prior year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission noted that scam reports rose 18.5 percent to 601,000.
Investment scams caused the most financial losses, accounting for $1.3 billion. Remote access scams came second, with losses amounting to $201.1 million.
Phishing and payment redirection scam losses totaled $137.4 million and $91.6 million, respectively.
ACCC’s Scamwatch data showed that people over 65 lost the most money across age groups, with a reported loss of $121 million. It is the only age group with more losses as compared to the previous year, due to investment scams mostly initiated on social media.
The ACCC believes this indicates that scammers target citizens with considerable retirement savings who are looking for investment opportunities.
Scamwatch received 22,080 scam reports from people with disabilities and 14,396 reports from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
First Nations reported 6,192 scams and businesses notified the consumer watchdog about 4,933 scams. Text messages emerged as the most reported contact method with 109,621 reports, but scam calls had the highest reported losses at $116 million.
The ACCC said the decrease in combined financial losses on scams reflects the efficiency of the National Anti-Scam Centre’s scam prevention, detection, and disruption efforts across government, industry, law enforcement, and community organisations.
“While the National Anti-Scam Centre has made a positive impact since it was established on 1 July 2023, there is much more work to do,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said. “Over the next two years we will continue to invest in technology-based solutions that will centralise intelligence and distribute information to those who can act on it.”
However, Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin is concerned with the immense consumer harm behind the reported losses.
In a statement, Ms. Tonkin stresses the roles of banks, telcos, and digital platforms in taking accountability and reimbursing their customers. She also highlighted the importance of federal government legislation in protecting Australian citizens’ financial safety and security.
“Every day on our frontline services, we speak to people losing life changing amounts through increasingly sophisticated scams, and despite all the voluntary efforts being made across the board, customers are still receiving inconsistent and inadequate responses from their banks and dispute resolution services when they seek help,” Ms. Tonkin said.
Meanwhile, the report’s demographic information highlighted the need for engagement with at-risk groups, widespread scam campaigns and messaging, tools and resources to support people to recognise and avoid scams, and further research to understand information preferences and reporting behaviours.
The ACCC recommended these initiatives after underlining the vulnerability of CALD communities to job scams. Compared to 2022 values, job scam losses rose by 151.2 percent to over $24.3 million.
“The Albanese Government is working hard to fight the scourge of scammers, but it’s important that Australians remain vigilant to the warning signs and report any suspicious activity,” Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said.
The Targeting Scams report is a compilation of data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (AFCX), IDCARE, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
