‘Stop, check and report’ scams, regulators warn
The Tax Office and ASIC have reminded businesses to stay cautious and vigilant towards suspicious cyber activity for the National Anti-Scams Centre’s Scams Awareness Week.
The professional bodies have reminded Australians to be aware of the potential cyber risks during this Scams Awareness Week by the National Anti-Scams Centre (NASC).
NASC and ASIC work together to make Australia a harder target for all scammers by sharing data, intelligence, and the implementation of disruption action.
ASIC has announced its investment scam disruption has taken down more than 7,300 phishing and investment scam websites in its first year since establishment.
Since July 2023, the corporate regulator has coordinated the removal of over 5,530 fake investment platform scams, 1,065 phishing scam hyperlinks, and 615 cryptocurrency investment scams.
The NASC 2023 Targeting scams report demonstrated a drop in overall losses from investment scams from $1.5 billion in 2022 to $1.3 billion in 2023.
According to ASIC, investment scams remain the leading type of scam impacting Australians that made up the $1.3 billion in losses.
“ASIC reminds all consumers to remain vigilant to social media hyperlinks that promote online trading and cryptocurrency investment,” the corporate regulator said.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said people need to be constantly aware of the potential cyber threat.
“Australians are still losing billions of dollars each year to scams,” she said.
“Scammers are criminals targeting the hip pockets of hardworking Australians and they don’t discriminate, they use sophisticated techniques to steal information and money.”
The corporate regulator frequently issues consumer warnings and conducts targeted surveillance to combat scams.
Court said the corporate regulator and NASC have had to remain proactive in detecting and disrupting the fast evolution of scams.
“The scam landscape is rapidly evolving. Innovative technology developments may improve how we live and work, however they also provide new opportunities for scammers to exploit,” she said.
“Every day an average of 20 investment scam websites are taken down. The quick removal of malicious websites is an important step to stop criminal scammers from causing further harm to Australians.”
This year’s theme for the NASC Scams Awareness Week is, “Share a story, stop a scam”.
The ATO said since January, 80 per cent of scams reported have been related to emails and is warning businesses and their employees to be aware of the red flags of scams.
The ATO said all employees should be reminded to look out for messages that contain hyperlinks to log into government services and to be careful of requests for financial information.
Employees also need to be wary of downloading attachments or opening email links as well as keeping an eye on unusual transactions or account interactions.
To help consumers stay informed about scams, ASIC published investment scam warnings and information on investment scams through its consumer website Moneysmart.
“Moneysmart provides detailed information on investment scams and how they work, including imposter bond scams, superannuation scams and cryptocurrency scams,” the corporate regulator said.
Stop, check, and report is ASIC’s main advice to consumers who have been or are at the risk of being scammed.
The ATO said all scams should be reported to help develop scam awareness.
“This Scams Awareness Week, let’s share our scam stories and empower others to do the same,” it said.
“The more we hear, the better equipped we are to prevent Australians from being scammed.”
