News & alerts

In May 2023, the government funded the ACCC to set up a new National Anti-Scam Centre. The centre will bring together experts from government and the private sector to tackle harmful scams.

Police have received reports of scams involving fake Australian Federal Police (AFP) representatives targeting vulnerable members of the community.

Last year scammers stole close to $34 million collectively from people who identified as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), people with disability, and Indigenous Australians.

Australians reported a record-breaking $37 million lost to Scamwatch last year for dating and romance scams. Total losses are expected to be much higher and scammers are now using dating apps to lure victims into investment scams.

Australians have lost over $8.8 million to threat based scams so far this year, and young people are reporting the highest losses.

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.

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 lost over $634 million to scams in 2019, according to the latest figures in the ACCC’s Targeting Scams report released today.

Scamwatch is warning all Australians to be on the lookout for bushfire fundraising scams and do their research when donating so that money can get to those who are in need, rather than those who would take advantage.

There are currently a wide range of appeals raising funds for people and animals affected by the bushfires. Unfortunately, some of these are scams.