Quarterly scam losses down 16%, taskforce says
The National Anti-Scam Centre says its first four months in action saw a rise in billing fraud but a decrease in total amounts lost compared to the year before.
Losses to scams last quarter were down 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, the government says, with the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) showing “clear early signs of success”.
The joint government industry taskforce, set up for $58 million in July to work within the ACCC, said $111.4 million was lost to scams in the third quarter with September’s monthly total of $29.8 million the lowest level since October 2021.
But false billing scams were up 25 per cent and total scam losses since January were up 9.2 per cent on last year at almost $400 million.
While people aged 65 and over reported losing the most ($101.6 million) to scams, losses from scams targeting young adults saw the biggest percentage rise.
Consumers aged 18 to 24 recorded a 37 per cent spike in losses totalling $14 million and children under 18 years old also saw a 53 per cent increase to $300,000.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the NASC was the most cohesive anti-scam partnership between government and industry to date and showed “clear early signs of success”.
“We made a promise to crack down on scammers who have been going after the hard-earned cash of households and businesses, and today this report shows we are delivering on that promise,” he said.
“While today’s report shows positive improvements, Australians need to remain vigilant to the threat of scams, while we keep working to protect Australians from these criminals.”
The NASC said it took down over 2,5000 investment scam and phishing websites and blocked $60,000 in payments during the September quarter. Its focus for December’s quarter would include improved technology and information-sharing initiatives, it said.
The NASC also committed to increased engagement with First Nations people, people with disabilities, and small businesses on scam awareness and protection.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and NASC Response Working Group member Bruce Billson said a rising number of scams had tried to impersonate small businesses or government agencies.
Small business owners should ensure they have appropriate safeguards in place to prevent scams, he said.
“Scams come in all shapes and sizes. Some are from very sophisticated hackers but others are credit card scams or fraudsters who claim to be trying to help you with your small business as they rip you off.”
“Sadly, if a criminal impersonates your business, it not only costs you and your customers money but can damage your brand and lead to a loss of consumer trust and confidence and the ability to operate. Too often, a cyber attack can be an enterprise-ending event for a small business.”
The NASC said it would also coordinate six short-term “fusion cell” taskforces over the next three years to bring together government and industry bodies to tackle priority scam issues.
Its first “investment scam fusion cell” resulted in the takedown of 32 websites, enhanced intelligence and “aversion of significant losses”, the report said.
Investment scams, the most “harmful” to consumers according to the NASC, fell 6 per cent last quarter, with losses since January totalling $241.6 million.
“It is encouraging to see this downward movement. We will continue to monitor the data to see if this is a trend emerging through the work of the National Anti-Scam Centre,” it said.
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