Con artists impersonating government agencies scammed Aussies out of $340 million last year

CON artists impersonating government agencies like the ATO have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars over scams we failed to detect.

CON artists impersonating government agencies stole millions of dollars from unsuspecting Australians last year in the worst year for scammers on record.

Australians lost a total of $340 million in 2017 alone — the biggest win for scammers since the consumer watchdog began tracking scam activity nine years ago.

The rise of threatening impersonation scams — where con artists pretend to be government agencies — and increasing “sophistication” of scammers has prompted a warning from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today as it marked the start of Scams Awareness Week.

More than 2800 Aussies lost more than $4.7 million through impersonation scams last year alone, while Australians looking for love or to make money through investments were ripped off the worst in 2017.

Investment scams cost Australians a total of $64 million and dating and romance scams cost a total of $42 million.

Individuals lost an average of $6500 and in some cases more than $1 million in 2017, amounting to a total loss of $340 million last year.

That’s $40 million more than in 2016.

ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said it was “very worrying that Australians are losing such extraordinary amounts to scammers”.

“Some scams are becoming very sophisticated and hard to spot,” she said.

“Scammers use modern technology like social media to contact and deceive their victims. In the past few years, reports indicate scammers are using aggressive techniques both over the phone and online.”

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Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard says scams are becoming harder to spot. Picture: Supplied by ACCC.

More than 200,000 scams were reported to the ACCC, and other agencies including the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.

Ms Rickard said the impersonation scams in particular could be “very frightening”.

“For example, scammers will impersonate the Australian Taxation Office and threaten people with immediate arrest unless they pay an outstanding tax bill,” she said.

“They may pretend to be from Telstra to try to hack into your computer or from Centrelink promising extra payments in return for a ‘fee.”

Types of scams we fell for in 2017. Picture: ACCC/Supplied

The ACCC received 33,000 reports of impersonation scams last year, while the Department of Human Services received more than 1270 calls for help in the past six months alone.

Centrelink has responded to the rising problem by launching a new dedicated scams helpline today for welfare recipients who have fallen victim to scammers.

Authorities are warning Australians to stop and check before they hand over personal information or money.

“If you’re being threatened, take a deep breath, and ask yourself if the call makes sense,” Ms Rickard said.

“The ATO will never threaten you with immediate arrest; Telstra will never need to access your computer to ‘fix’ a problem; and Centrelink will never require a fee to pay money it owes you. Finally, none of these organisations will ask you to pay using iTunes gift cards.

“If something doesn’t feel right, hang up the phone or hit delete. If the person said they were, for example, from Telstra or the ATO, find the phone number for that organisation online or in the phone book, call them and let them know about the call you received. They’ll let you know if it’s genuine or a scam.”

Originally published as Con artists impersonating government agencies scammed Aussies out of $340 million last year