Australians lost a record $3.1bn to different scams in 2022

With Aussies losing a whopping $3.1bn to scams last year, we reveal the most common and what to be on the lookout for. Read how to protect yourself.

Aussies lost over $3.1 bn to scammers in 2022

Shocking new data reveals a monumental increase in money lost to scams, with those responsible using increasingly sophisticated techniques to scam Australians out of their hard-earned cash.

According to the ACCC’s Scamwatch, Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022 - an 80 per cent increase from 2021.

The latest data reveals the most money was lost in investment scams ($1.5 billion), followed by remote access scams ($229 million) and payment redirection scams ($224 million).

There has also been an explosion of reported losses to phishing scams in the past year, including the “Hi Mum” and Toll/Linkt text scams, which skyrocketed by 469 per cent to $24.6 million in 2022.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said the true cost of scams was much more than a dollar figure as “they also cause emotional distress to victims, their families and businesses”.

“Scammers evolve quickly and unfortunately, many Australians are losing their life savings,” Ms Lowe said.

“We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect.

“This includes everything from impersonating official phone numbers, email addresses and websites of legitimate organisations to scam texts that appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages. This means now more than ever, anyone can fall victim to a scam.”

WHO IS THE MOST VULNERABLE?

The biggest losses were suffered by vulnerable Australians, with data revealing people with a disability reported financial losses of $33.7 million - a 71 per cent increase compared to 2021.

Meanwhile, Indigenous Australians reported losses of $5.1 million (up five per cent compared to 2021) and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities lost $56.6 million (up 36 per cent compared to 2021).

“We are very concerned that people experiencing vulnerability continue to be disproportionately impacted by scams,” Ms Lowe said.

“Our report shows that people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were significantly over-represented in terms of financial losses across a range of scam-types, accounting for more than one quarter of total losses associated with identity theft and about a third (32.7 per cent) of all losses to pyramid schemes.”

The report notes that scammers most commonly contacted their victims through text messages followed by scam calls and social media last year.

Bank transfer was the most commonly reported payment method, ahead of cryptocurrency and credit cards.

WHO IS LOSING THE MOST TO SCAMS?

Older Australians continue to lose more money than other age groups. People aged over 65 lost more money than any other age group - they reported losses of $120.7 million, an increase of about 48 per cent.

Despite this, people aged between 35 and 44 reported the highest increase in reported losses - up 90 per cent to $91.2 million.

Men reported losses of $273 million (almost a 44 per cent increase), while women reported losses of $231.5 million (an increase of 76.5 per cent).

Ms Lowe said millions of Australians were made more vulnerable to scams last year following a spate of large-scale, high-profile data breaches.

“Scammers are the most opportunistic of all criminals. Unfortunately, the more information a scammer has about you, the more convincing they can be,” Ms Lowe said.

“There are still significant gaps between and within the key sectors – banks, telcos and digital platforms; and between regulators that scammers exploit to steal money from customers,” Ms Lowe said.

“So we would like to see initiatives that apply across the sectors, knowing that scammers will target the weakest link.

“First, we need to stop scammers reaching consumers by disrupting phone calls, SMS, email, social media messaging or other ways in which scammers contact would-be victims.

“Second, we need to make sure consumers are supported with up-to-date information so they have the best chance of spotting a scammer when contacted.

“Finally, we need effective measures in place to prevent funds being transferred to scammers.”