Watchdog says Australians lost $113m to crypto scams in just four months

The consumer watchdog has revealed Australians are racking up staggering losses as fraudsters increasingly target a particular asset.

Crypto scammers stole nearly $1m a day from Aussie investors in the first four months of the year, prompting the consumer watchdog to sound the alarm.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Monday announced cryptocurrency fraudsters had been busy since January and were the main reason Australians had more than doubled their total scam losses compared to the same time in 2021.

Total scam losses between January 1 and the end of April amounted to $205m – up 166 per cent – and were dominated by investment scams.

The $158m stolen via dodgy investments also included $113m from crypto scams.

The pandemic and general migration to online work has underpinned a surge in the number of people being stung by shonky trading platforms or scams via social media.

Australians lost $113m to crypto scams in the first four months of 2022

Scamwatch data also shows scam contact methods are changing with text message up 54 per cent between 1 January and 1 May this year, surpassing phone call as the most common contact mode.

“If you receive an unexpected text message or phone call from someone offering you an opportunity to invest, it is likely a scam and you should immediately hang up or delete the message,” Ms Rickard said.

Phone scams have almost halved, suggesting the telecommunications industry’s Reducing Scams Call Code 2020 that blocks incoming calls from scammers is having an impact.

Since the Code’s introduction telco providers have blocked over 549 million scam calls, limiting opportunities for criminals to scam Australians.

The ACCC did say that people should always be wary of anyone asking to be paid in things like bitcoin and ethereum as cryptocurrency is the most common payment method for investment scams.

Scammers often use shonky trading platforms or create scams via social media to trick people out of their money.

“Australians should be very wary of anyone asking them to invest in or transfer money using cryptocurrency, especially if it’s someone you have only met online,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said

“Many consumers are unfamiliar with the complexities of cryptocurrency and this can make them more vulnerable to scams.”

The warning comes as the ACCC prepares for a court battle against Facebook parent Meta over alleged misleading conduct regarding scam celebrity crypto ads.

Mining baron Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest earlier this year also launched a case against the social media firm alleging it breached anti-money laundering laws by failing to stop fraudsters using fake ads – featuring prominent identities such as himself – to scam people.

People aged 55 to 64 reported the highest total losses to scams between January 1 and May 1 with $32m stolen.

More than 80 per cent of losses reported by this age group was lost to investment scams.