That report, released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said this $634 million was lost to over 353,000 reported scams to Scamwatch, the major banks and other government agencies.
This is a significant increase on the year prior, as the ACCC found just under $500 million was lost to scams in 2018.
Business email scams accounted for the highest losses in 2019 at $132 million, followed by investment scams at $126 million, and dating and romance scams at $83 million.
Over the last 10 years, the ACCC reports that more than $2.5 billion has been lost to scams.
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said these losses are "devastatingly high" and "astonishing", and that scammers are constantly finding new ways to defraud Australians.
“We know these numbers still vastly understate losses as around one third of people don’t report scam losses to anyone and in the past far fewer scam reports to other agencies have been captured," Ms Rickard said.
“Some of these scams can last for months, or even years, and can leave victims financially and emotionally devastated.”
Need somewhere to store cash and earn interest? The table below features introductory savings accounts with some of the highest interest rates on the market.
Provider | |||||||||||||
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| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
| FEATURED | High Interest Savings Account (< $250k)
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High Interest Savings Account (< $250k)
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| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
| FEATURED | Savings Account (Amounts < $250k)
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Savings Account (Amounts < $250k)
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| 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| FEATURED*Rate varies on savings amount | Save Account (<$100,000)
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Save Account (<$100,000)
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| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
| FEATURED | Savings Accelerator (Amounts < $50000)
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Savings Accelerator (Amounts < $50000)
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| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Savings Maximiser (<$100k)
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Savings Maximiser (<$100k)
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| 0 | 500 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Goal Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 5 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Young Saver Account | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Smart Saver Account (Under 25) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0.01 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Reward Saver Account($0-$100k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 50 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Save up | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 200 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Bonus Saver (<$1 Million) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
ANZ Save | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 100 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Bonus Saver Account (Amounts < $100k) | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
NetBank Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0.01 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Life (< 30 years) (Monthly deposit) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Boost Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 2000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
HomeME Savings Account ($0 - $100,000) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 200 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Growth Saver ($1 - $25k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| For customers aged 14-35 years | |||||||||||||
Future Saver Account ( < $50k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 20 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Reward Saver Kick Start (Amounts ≤ $1m) | |||||||||||||
- A high-interest online savings account with no monthly fees, easy withdrawals and award-winning digital banking
- No withdrawal notice periods or interest rate penalties
- Save up to 10% on eGift cards at over 50 retailers with Macquarie Marketplace
The ACCC says scams originating on social media increased by 20% in 2019, and scams made via contact on mobile apps rose by 29%.
“Over the last decade, scammers have taken advantage of new technologies and current scams are using social media apps and new payment methods that didn’t exist in 2009,” Ms Rickard said.
“In particular, a new trend with dating and romance scams is scammers contacting the victim on social media apps or games which are not designed for dating, so it’s important to be aware that scammers can target you anywhere.”
The most affected age group is 55-64 year olds who accounted for 23% of scam victims by losses, followed by:
- 45-54 year olds (21%)
- 35-44 year olds (20%)
- 65+ year olds (18%)
People-aged 34 and under account for less than 20% of scam victims, but this could be set to increase based on the rise in scams made over social media and mobile apps like TikTok and Snapchat.
Read: Gen Z the fastest growing group of scam victims
“You can always say no, hang up the phone or delete an email, even if you’ve said yes previously. You don’t owe the scammer anything,” Ms Rickard said.
Source: ACCC
Rachel Horan
Harrison Astbury