THE SQUIZ

The Australian consumer watchdog says that Aussies reported losing more than $3.1 billion – averaging $20,000 per victim – to scammers last year. The true figure could be much higher than that because it’s thought about 30% of victims don’t report their loss to anyone, and just 13% notify the regulator via Scamwatch. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s annual Targeting Scams paper includes an analysis of 500,000 scam reports lodged in 2022 – it found the total amount lost last year was up 80% on 2021. ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe says that’s because scammers’ tactics are becoming “increasingly sophisticated” and fast-moving. “We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect,” she said yesterday. 

YIKES…

Indeed… To break down the stats: investment scams ($1.5 billion) were the biggest contributor to last year’s total, followed by remote access scams ($229 million) and payment redirection scams ($224 million). The ACCC says scammers turned their focus toward vulnerable Aussies in 2022, with a record number of scams being made against people with a disability (who reported financial losses of $33.7 million). Indigenous people (with losses of $5.1 million) and people from culturally/linguistically diverse communities (with losses of $56 million) were also in scammers’ sights. But the ACCC points to major data breaches (hello, Optus and Medibank…) for making millions of Aussies across all ages and backgrounds more susceptible to scams. Lowe says Scamwatch received heaps of reports after last year’s cyber attacks, “including reports of scammers impersonating government departments and businesses to carry out identity theft and remote access scams”.

SO WHAT CAN BE DONE?

That’s the big question – particularly when there are estimates that Aussies will be scammed out of $4 billion this year. Lowe says it’s clear “a coordinated response across government, law enforcement and the private sector is essential to combat scams more effectively”. In that vein, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Signals Directorate (the body tasked with defending Oz from global threats, including international cybercrime) have been working on a new cybersecurity strategy. The ACCC is also establishing a national anti-scams centre to fight fraud. While the experts work on that, there’s lots of advice to help individuals avoid being scammed… Telstra cyber security expert Darren Pauli says you should never click on links you’re unsure about; always check messages’ spelling and grammar if you think it could be legit; and avoid banking/online shopping when you’re connected to public wi-fi. Words to live by…