An eyewatering $3.1 billion was lost to scammers in 2022 according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Targeting Scams report.
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ACCC predicts more than 30 per cent of people don't report scams at all.
Top trending scams to watch out for
Investor scams
Investor scams made up more than 50 per cent of all financial losses reported to Scamwatch in 2022.
Investor scams to watch out for include imposter bond scams where a fake financial service company or bank offers low risk investment products.
Similarly, people need to be careful of initial public offering scams, as perpetrators have been impersonating Australian companies such as banks to sell fake shares.
Relationship and romance baiting scams
This involves a new online friend or romantic connection suggesting they could help victims with promising new investment opportunities that turn out to be fake.
"In 2022, many high loss investment scams occurred in the context of a long-term friendship or relationship that occurred on social media or a dating application."
- ACCC targeting scam report
Impersonation scams
Many people are aware of basic phishing scams where trusted brands or organisations are impersonated, but these types of scams were becoming increasingly sophisticated.
People should be aware of messages coming from banks particularly if they say they are from the cyber security or fraud departments.
Also, scammers are regularly impersonating brands such as Amazon, Gumtree, eBay, Australia Post and PayPal to con victims.
There has also been a rise in scammers disguising themselves as family members.
The most prominent of these is the 'Hi Mum' trend, that claims to be the victim's son or daughter in need of financial aid or identity documents.
Employment scams
A common form of an employment scam occurred via social media or messaging platforms such as WhatsApp where people were advertised promising working from home positions.
But once taking the job, victims would then be enticed to pay a withdrawal fee to release the funds owed to them.
Remote access scams
Remote access scams were usually conducted over the phone and generally targeted older people.
In 2022, one woman lost $30,000 after receiving a phone call telling her she had her bank account hacked.
Over several months she was then coerced into transferring her money into different bank accounts that did not belong to her.
What to do if you fall victim to a scam
According to the ACCC there are a number of steps you should take if you fall victim to a scam.
Contact your financial institution immediately and explain what has happened. They may cancel transactions or close accounts that are compromised.
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Reach out to friends and family for support and warn them about the deception.
Report incidents to the ACCC Report a scam webpage.
