Australians lose record $851m to scams during the pandemic

• Australians lost $851 million to scams in 2020, a record amount, as fraudsters took advantage of the pandemic to deceive innocent victims
• The ACCC report found investment scams caused the most losses, totalling $328 million, accounting for more than a third of all losses
• The second most expensive category was romance scams, which cost Australians $131 million, followed by payment redirection scams, which cost $128 million
• ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard says they expect the real losses to be higher as many don’t report these scams
• Victoria recorded the highest losses nationwide for the first time reporting $49 million of losses to Scamwatch

Australians lost $851 million to scams in 2020, a record amount, as fraudsters took advantage of the pandemic to deceive innocent victims.

The ACCC’s Targeting Scams report is based on more than 444,000 reports from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, various government agencies, and 10 banks and financial intermediaries.

The report found investment scams caused the most losses, totalling $328 million, accounting for more than a third of all losses.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has also witnessed an increase in investment scams, particularly regarding advertisements disguised as fake news articles.

These advertisements were mostly promoting crypto-currency and contracts for difference (CFD) trading.

Even in the early months of the pandemic, ASIC noticed a rise in investment scams, with reports climbing 20 per cent from March to May 2020 compared with the year before.

The ACCC report found that the second most expensive category was romance scams, which cost Australians $131 million, followed by payment redirection scams, which cost $128 million.

“Last year, scam victims reported the biggest losses we have seen, but worse, we expect the real losses will be even higher, as many people don’t report these scams,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

“Unfortunately scammers continue to become more sophisticated and last year used the COVID-19 pandemic to scam and take advantage of people from all walks of life during this crisis.”

Reports and losses for various scams rose as people spent more time online during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Health and medical scams increased more than 20-fold compared to 2019, accounting for over $3.9 million in losses. Losses to threat-based scams increased by 178 per cent to $11.8 million, and there were more than $8.4 million in losses to remote access scams, an increase of over 74 per cent. 

During the pandemic, phishing activities grew, particularly through government impersonation frauds. There were over 44,000 reports of phishing schemes, up 75 per cent from the previous year.

Of the $851 million in combined losses, $176 million were reported to Scamwatch alone.

“Victoria, which was significantly impacted by the second wave of the virus, recorded the highest losses nationwide for the first time and Victorians reported $49 million in losses to Scamwatch, more than double those in 2019,” Ms Rickard said.

“We saw scammers claiming the government restrictions meant people could not see items in person before purchase. This was a common ruse in vehicle sale and puppy scams, which both had higher reports and losses.”