Each year tens of thousands of Australians lose money to scammers, with relationship and dating scams causing the most emotional and economic harm according to new figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The consumer watchdog’s most recently published numbers show that over 90,000 Australians reported scams to the ACCC last year, with $89,136,975 million reported lost. The figures also show an alarming trend in phishing and identity theft.
Out of all the scams, the most money was lost to dating and romance frauds. Australians reported a net loss of $25 million due to romance schemes, despite making up only three per cent of all scam reports to the ACCC.
“I think scammers are learning that by forming a personal relationship and really putting effort into knowing their victim and forming those trusting bonds, that this is the market for them,” ACCC deputy chairwoman Delia Rickard told the ABC.
“This is where they can get the biggest pay off. The majority we’re aware of are under fake profiles in online dating sites.” Ms Rickard also said she is very concerned about the “huge increase” in phishing and personal identity theft, which went up a massive 73 per cent since 2012. These usually take the form of a fake online survey with purported prize money.
“It might ask for your credit card details so they can deposit winnings into it, Medicare numbers, passport numbers,” explains Ms Rickard. “What scammers do is they then use this information to impersonate you to open all sorts of accounts, run up debts in your name, drain your bank account.”
Phone calls and text messages continued to be the preferred delivery method for scammers, making up 52 per cent of reported scams and online scams caused the greatest financial harm, with $42 million reported lost.
For the full scam report and all the latest information and tips for consumers can be found at www.scamwatch.gov.au.
