Scam reports and losses fell significantly last year after a series of public-private partnerships to harden defences. But with losses still at $2 billion and new regulations not yet in place, consumers are being urged to stay vigilant.
The progress comes after an expansion in intelligence sharing, new behind the scenes technology for real-time detection and disruption, scam call and SMS blocking, compliance action, and public awareness campaigns.
The overall drops have been welcomed with cautious optimism by the National Anti Scam Centre, but there are still worrying signs.
Losses surged in the final months of 2024 and there was an alarming increases in losses for First Nations people.
“While we are encouraged by the drop in reported financial losses, we acknowledge scammers are sophisticated and highly motivated criminals. We need to remain vigilant and pivot our defences to maintain this downward trajectory,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
The National Anti Scam Centre’s new report released on Tuesday shows reported losses fell by more than 25 per cent to $2.03 billion in 2024, while reports of cams dropped by almost 18 per cent to around 495,000.
Almost half the losses came from investment scams ($945 million), which were also the top scam type, followed by romance, payment redirection, remote access and phishing scams.
The top five scams jointly accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total combined losses.
The centre said it will focus on increasing its reach to First Nations communities this year after the group’s losses jumped 73 per cent to $6.5 million.
The overall progress comes after a multi-sector crackdown. Telstra, Optus and TPG say they blocked millions of scam calls and texts every week, while the Commonwealth Bank rolled out real-time detection tech.
The bank partnered with Telstra to determine whether a customer might be on a phone call while making a bank transaction – a key indicator of a scam taking place – and says separate name check technology to match account names is stopping scam payments of around $40 million a year.
Real-time data sharing also increased last year through the scam centre that connects stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, helping to disrupt several global scam operations.
Regulators have been busy too, with the communications watchdog finalising six investigations into telco’s compliance with the Scam Code last year, and the corporate regulator now shutting down 130 investment scam websites per week.
The offensive ramped up as the telco, banking and platform sectors faced the prospect of tougher regulation last year, triggering disputes on where liability for scams losses lies.
The Albanese government’s anti-scam legislation was ultimately rushed through parliament last month and was criticised as favouring the banking sector.
The new laws will set up a world-first framework for the three sectors, obligating their entities to detect, prevent, report and disrupt scams.
It does not include the UK-style presumptive reimbursement model that advocates had pushed for.
Crossbench Senators have criticised parts of the Australian model and lamented a lack of debate in parliament.
“I’ve met so many people who have lost hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some have lost millions of dollars,” Independent senator David Pocock said last month.
“And you guys are happy to just give them the middle finger and say: ‘Well, here’s some scams legislation. It’s better than nothing.’”
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