Australians have lost AU$295 million to scams in the first half of 2022 according to newly released data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch.
The total losses from January to June 2022 have more than doubled compared to the first half of 2021, where Australians lost a combined AU$139 million.
While losses to scams have increased exponentially since last year, the total number of scams reported to Scamwatch has decreased by 15%. During the first half of 2022, 105,153 scams were reported compared to 124,321 in the first half of 2021, suggesting scammers are becoming more effective and sophisticated when stealing personal information and siphoning money from fewer attempts.
Adrian Covich, Senior Director, Technical Sales, Asia Pacific and Japan at Proofpoint, said: “Staying up-to-date with Scamwatch’s alerts about active scams circulating can help Australians stay protected.
“With the data from Scamwatch showing investment scams are continuing to cause devastating losses, we urge Australians to never give out personal or financial information to someone they don’t know, whether that’s over phone, email, text or the Internet.”
Investment scams were the most financially damaging during the first half of 2022, causing more than AU$219 million inlosses compared to AU$177 million lost throughout the entirety of 2021.
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