So far this year scammers have stolen more than $7.2 million from Australians by gaining access to home computers, an increase of 184 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The ACCC has launched a podcast series for this year’s National Scams Awareness Week to provide Australians with tips on how to protect their personal and financial details from scammers.
There has been an increase in scams reported during tax time such as text messages claiming to be from myGov or from agencies claiming to help victims gain early access to their superannuation.
Data from the ACCC’s annual Targeting Scams report, released this week, indicates scammers don’t discriminate and are targeting a range of different communities in Australia.
Australians under 25 lost over $5 million to scams in 2019 and reports made from this age group are increasing faster than older generations.
In 2019, around 12,000 (7.15 per cent) reports
Scams reported to the ACCC involving identity theft or the loss of personal/banking information have cost Australians at least $16 million this year, and this figure is likely to be just the tip of th
Scammers are increasingly catching out people by impersonating well-known businesses or the police so they can get access to computers and steal money or banking information.
