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MOMENTUM
MEDIA
Australians shed over $300 million last year off the back of a spike in scamming activity.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest Scamwatch data, $323.7 million in scam losses were incurred over the 2021 calendar year, up 84 per cent on the previous year ($175.6 million).
The ACCC received approximately 286,608 reports, representing a 32 per cent year-on-year increase (216,086 in 2020).
The greatest monthly losses were recorded in December, with $43.2 million shed, while the higher number of scam reports (40,874) were received in August.
On a state-by-state basis, NSW residents incurred the greatest losses ($110 million), followed by Victorians ($74 million).
NSW also lodged the largest number of scam reports (92,117), again followed by Victoria (74,597).
Investment scams were responsible for the bulk of financial losses, while phishing attacks were the most largely reported by victims.
|
Top 10 Scams – Money lost 2021 |
Top 10 Scams – Number of Reports 2021 |
||
|
Investment |
$177,184,295 |
Phishing |
71,299 |
|
Dating and Romance |
$56,175,428 |
Threats to life or arrest |
32,425 |
|
False billing |
$17,303,665 |
Identity theft |
22,354 |
|
Remote access scams |
$16,412,258 |
False billing |
21,545 |
|
Threats to life or arrest |
$11,077,551 |
Online shopping scams |
20,694 |
|
Identity theft |
$10,159,930 |
Remote access scams |
15,697 |
|
Online shopping scams |
$8,074,469 |
Hacking |
15,141 |
|
Classified scams |
$7,114,830 |
Investment scams |
9,663 |
|
Phishing |
$4,324,128 |
Classified scams |
9,560 |
|
Hacking |
$3,041,484 |
Prize and lottery scams |
4,428 |
Reflecting on the data, Crispin Kerr, ANZ vice-president at cyber security company Proofpoint, said the spike is the “tip of the iceberg”.
“Based on the numbers for December, during the holiday season, people can become desensitised to receiving numerous advertising links for shopping deals and the like and may not think twice about opening a dangerous file or clicking a suspicious link,” Kerr said.
“The data shows scammers were extremely active in 2021 and we anticipate this will only increase as scammers continue to evolve and update their tactics.
“Malicious actors will always follow the money and we’ve seen that during the past year, SMS attacks have grown exponentially, because those actors discovered a trusting and captive audience ready to engage on the other end of the phone. It is critical for consumers to remain vigilant.”
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres
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