Australians lost $286m to scams in 1H23

Reports to the ACCC’s Scamwatch service grew more than 48% year on year during the half year ending in June, even though financial losses fell slightly to $286 million, from $293 million a year earlier.

Statistics released by the agency found that the monthly average lost to scams remained steady at $48.89 million during the half-year period despite the dramatic increase in the number of detected scams.

Investment scams remain the most damaging form of scams, responsible for 60% of all recorded losses, despite accounting for only 4666 of the 156,279 scams reported during the period.

NSW remains the most targeted state for scam activity and recorded the highest financial losses, with over $88 million lost to cybercriminals during the period. This was followed by Victoria ($62.5 million in total losses) and Queensland ($54.6 million in total losses).

Text messages are the most frequently reported scam delivery method, but financial losses are reportedly higher among delivery methods including emails and phone calls.

Commenting on the findings, Proofpoint Senior Director for Systems Engineering in APJ Adrian Covich said 2023 is already shaping up to be on par with what was a record-breaking 2022 in terms of scam activity.

“While the ACCC’s data is a helpful guide for how the nation is tracking, the numbers do not cover the true extent of the damage caused by cybercriminals every day. Many Australians who receive scam calls, texts and emails may not report them at all, and those who become victims of these scams and do report them are much more than a number,” he said.

“While reports have skyrocketed, it is encouraging to see early indications that Australians may be becoming more cyber aware. Financial losses are down and reports of scams are up, which shows us that more people are reporting potential scammers and they’re less likely to hand over money. While this is promising, we encourage Australians to remain vigilant as scammers and cybercriminals will continue to leverage current events and social engineering techniques to target them during the second half of the year.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Guirong Hao