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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reported that Australians lose millions of dollars to investment scams yearly.
According to their recently released figures, in the past ten months alone, Australians have lost nearly half-a-billion dollars to scams in 2022 – a significant increase from 2021.
Much of these losses come from investment scams ($320 million) followed by dating and romance ($32 million), which have dramatically increased over the past two years.
According to Paul Haskell-Dowland, professor of cyber security practice at Edith Cowan University, investment frauds are predicted to increase significantly in the upcoming years.
The ACCC’s Scamwatch estimates that Australians have lost more than $474 million to scams since January.
Haskell-Dowland, however, claimed in an interview with 9news.com.au that the actual amount of money lost was far higher since fewer people were willing to admit they had been duped.
“The scam statistics are always skewed because they are inaccurate and don’t include everybody,” he said.
“There is still a stigma attached to being scammed.
“Being a victim of a scam campaign is not something to be ashamed of, and when we see the scam data, it’s only a small part of the image.”
Australians reported losing more than $177 million to investment scams in 2021, which rose by $143 million the following year. Investment scams have soared in the last two years.
“We are likely going to see a continued trend of increased investment scams,” Haskell-Dowland said
The ACCC noted in a report on scam activities in 2021 that there was an urgent need to take action to stop cryptocurrency investment scams.
The Australian government started consulting on methods for granting licenses to exchanges for virtual currencies and the custody requirements for cryptocurrency assets in March 2022.
With investment fraud on the rise, Australians must be aware of apparent indications to protect themselves from becoming victims.
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