Australians left exposed as tough new anti-scam laws stall for months
Australians face a “wicked problem” costing them millions and despite big promises there is little action to help them with the devastation.
ANALYSIS
Hardworking Australians are continuing to lose hundreds of millions to scams despite the government trumpeting world-leading legislation to protect Aussies earlier this year.
Months after the Albanese Government passed the Scam Prevention Framework (SPF) – bragging that it would impose the toughest penalties in the world with banks, social media giants and telecommunications companies facing fines of $50 million — news.com.au can reveal one Aussies company narrowly avoided being fleeced of a whopping $320 million by scammers.
News.com.au learnt that a Western Australian company called the Perdaman Group — which is constructing a fertiliser plant for $6 billion – was believed to have sent the money after scammers intercepted an email and posed as one of its suppliers in April this year, although could not confirm it.
It begs the question that if a billion dollar company can be caught out by scammers, what hope do ordinary Australians have when protections are still not in place?
Under the legislation introduced in February, these industries would be subject to comprehensive and enforceable sector‑specific rules such as social media giants being required to verify advertisers and telecommunications companies detecting and disrupting numbers sending scam texts and calls.
Yet, nine months later, despite the legislation having passed, the new laws have not yet been enforced and scam losses have ballooned.
MORE: How to protect yourself from rental scams
Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin expressed her dismay at the lack of action to bring in rules and codes of practices, let alone a redress scheme for victims, warning the laws could take “potentially years to come” into effect.
“While we are waiting around for the scam laws to come into force, scammers are not slowing down. They are innovating and accelerating to target sophisticated businesses like this one and every day Australians,” Ms Tonkin said.
“We are hearing of millions of dollars being lost to scams each month and that’s just on our front lines and it’s a wicked problem and something government needs to speed up on urgently.”
Data from the National Anti-Scam Centre has just dropped and it’s not pretty news.
Australians lost $260 million to scams in the first nine months of 2025, with almost 160,000 reports made to Scamwatch. This represents a 16 per cent increase in losses, despite a drop in reports.
Shopping scams resulted in $8.6 million in losses – an increase of 19 per cent from the same period in 2024. The compromise of social media accounts to reach unsuspecting victims was common with scammers promoting fake ticket sales, “fire sales”, grant offers, and investment schemes, Scamwatch said.
Online content, such as fake websites, advertisements, social media, and mobile apps, were the most common method used by scammers for initial contact, resulting in $122 million in losses, or 47 per cent of overall scam losses.
Meanwhile, a new Australian group called the Scam Victims Alliance was launched this year fighting for better support, recovery and justice for Australian scam, fraud and cyber-enabled crime survivors.
Its president Harriet Spring said Australians remain at serious risk of financial harm, with scam losses per capita double those in the UK and one-third higher than in the US.
“Since the announcement of the Scam Prevention Framework in February 2025, the situation has worsened,” she said.
“Fraudsters are increasingly emboldened by our weak government controls, while victims wait for mandatory reimbursement under new SPF codes. How much longer must victims wait?
“In the absence of urgent action, scams have escalated into a national security threat – a risk other countries are already moving to shut down. A Royal Commission into financial crime and money laundering in 2026 is long overdue.”
She claimed that the Scam Victims Alliance (SVA) is doing more than regulators to fight fraud – at no cost and with no funding — with victims frustrated by zero accountability from government, no clear compensation pathway and being held 100 per cent liable for losses.
“Australia cannot afford to wait. Stronger protections and accountability are essential now,” Ms Spring said.
Meanwhile, Ms Tonkin said waiting for the laws to actually come into action was “frightening”. While work is happening in the background there is “still a long way to go” before laws are in operation that prevent and disrupt scams, she added.
“Ordinary Australians and families are being impacted and changed forever because of scams, yet we have laws that were passed in February,” she said.
“I think the Scam Prevention Framework at a very high level has some great strengths about it but implementing it – this was very much discussed at the time when the law was made – was always going to be a complex task.
“I think what’s happening is its proving even more complex as we are crossing sectors, developing new ways of working, industries that aren’t overly regulated are being pulled into the framework, dispute resolution is going to be highly unique and it’s all covering an issue that is developing and evolving and adapting day by day.”
News.com.au was told more than two months ago by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino that the Albanese government is “taking strong action to make Australia the hardest target for scammers” and are “moving quickly to implement the world-first Scams Prevention Framework”.
He said government had been engaging directly with stakeholders on next steps, and public consultation were due to being soon – yet it’s November and still nothing has happened.
Mr Mulino did not respond by publication to further inquiries.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Perdamen noted that with the alleged $320 million fraud “the funds were recovered with the proactive support of the bank, for which we are very grateful”.
They added that the matter is with the police – who could give no further details to news.com.au.
The Albanese government might be talking tough on scams but if it doesn’t take action it’s all smoke and mirrors, and the ones left to pick up the pieces are Australians who are hit by a devastating financial crime.
sarah.sharples@news.com.au
Originally published as Australians left exposed as tough new anti-scam laws stall for months
