Losses to scams have increased by 80 percent between 2021 and 2022, with investment scams alone taking $1.5 billion from Australians, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest targeting scams report.
The report highlights the need for a coordinated response to combat increasingly sophisticated tactics used by scammers. Scamwatch recorded fewer individual cases, but a huge growth in financial losses, with an average per-incident loss amount of $19,654, up from $12,742 in 2021.
The actual losses are likely higher, as only 13 percent of victims report losses to Scamwatch, and only 30 percent report to anyone. Small and micro businesses were hit particularly hard, with total losses of $13.7 million in 2019 reports, up over 95 percent from 2021.
