The end of 2023 marked 6 months since the National Anti-Scam Centre was established.

During the October to December 2023 quarter, we continued to see progress towards our vision of making Australia the world’s hardest target for scammers.

We are achieving this through collaborative initiatives with partners in government, law enforcement, industry and consumer groups, while also engaging with Australians. 

Based on Scamwatch data we are optimistic that the accelerating increase in losses to scams is beginning to turn.

Australians reported $82.1 million in losses to Scamwatch in the October to December 2023 quarter, which is down by 43% from the same quarter in 2022, and down by 26% from the July to September 2023 quarter.

Infographic titled ‘Scams at a glance’ shows scam losses of $82 million, down 26 percent compared to July to September 2023 and down 43 percent compared to October to December 2022; scam reports of 67,116, down 14 percent compared to July to September 2023 and down 8 percent compared to October to December 2022; average reported loss of $1,224, down 14 percent compared to July to September 2023 and down 38 percent compared to October to December 2022.

Comparing data with the same quarter in 2022, the National Anti-Scam Centre has seen significant falls, including:

  • 38% decrease in investment scam losses to $52.4 million
  • 74% decrease in losses by cryptocurrency to $12.4 million
  • 31% decrease in losses by bank transfer to $40.2 million
  • 22% decrease in losses where social networking is the contact method to $15.9 million.

Read more from the National Anti-Scam Centre's October to December 2023 quarterly update.