$93m black hole: How Queenslanders were fleeced

Queenslanders have been scammed out of a whopping $93m over the past year – here’s how they did it and how to protect yourself from fraudsters.

Queenslanders were scammed out of a whopping $93m last year with swindlers increasingly targeting people through social media – and seniors the most likely to be hardest hit.

Alarming data from Scamwatch released today showed the amount of cash Queenslanders lost had almost tripled in the past three years, with people over 65 reporting almost $35m in losses in 2023 thanks to dating, investment, and crypto scams.

One Queensland woman reported losing $110,000 to a cryptocurrency scam.

She was reportedly targeted via a social media pop-up ad, which was promising gold mining shares for $250.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the evidence showed that scammers were becoming more “sophisticated” in their methods of fleecing Queenslanders out of their hard-earned cash.

“It’s alarming to see the growing amount of money Queenslanders are losing to them,” she said.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath says Queenslanders lost more than $90m to scams last year.

Ms D’Ath also said the “swindlers” were using increasingly targeted methods to find their next victims – such as using social media – as well as through their emails, phones, and in-person.

“It’s worrying to see seniors continuing to fall victim to investment scams which promise big payouts, quick money and guaranteed returns,” she said.

One of the worst spots for scams was in Gladstone, which reported 129 scams for a total loss of $1.68m.

The Sunshine Coast hinterland recorded nearly 100 scam reports for losses of $2.5m, while the Gold Coast recorded more than 1300 scam reports for losses of close to $5m.

Seniors in Bundaberg were scammed out of more than $1m.

The data also showed Australians lost more than $290m to investment scams last year, with $34m lost to dating and romance scams and false billing scams fleecing people of well over $27m.

The top three scams reported to Scamwatch were phishing scams (with more than 108,000 reports), false billing scams (39,588 reports) and online shopping scams (21,346 reports).

Ms D'Ath said with the rising cost of living already adding pressure on the household budgets of Queenslanders, being “scam aware” was crucial.

The Scamwatch website regularly shares information on the latest scams, and Queenslanders were urged to check if a company was licensed on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission website before making any investments.

Being wary of calls or texts from unknown numbers, ignoring emails which ask you to verify your contact details and being suspicious of any requests for money were the other top tips.

Ms D’Ath echoed the advice, and said her strong message was “if the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.

“One way we can spread awareness of scams is to talk about them,” she said.

“Talk to your family, your friends, colleagues or neighbours – because the more we share our stories of scams, the more we can help to spot them and avoid them.”