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New data reveals Australians lost $295.2 million to scammers in the first half of 2022
COVID-19 forced millions of families to stay at home and introduced us to a digitally-driven way of life, however, cybercriminals also took it as an opportunity to carry out sophisticated and heartless scams.
Between January to June 2021, Australians lost $139 million to scammers, with a total of $323 million for the entirety of 2021. Compared to the same time frame this year, the amount of money that Australians lost to scams nearly doubled.
A staggering $295.2 million has been swindled from more than 100,000 scams that were recorded between January to June 2022, according to the latest data from the ACCC's Scamwatch.
'We are just over halfway through the year and already 2022 is shaping up to be a record year for losses and scam activity,' stated Adrian Covich, Senior Director at Proofpoint.
'Across the whole of 2021 Australians lost $323 million and only six months into 2022, this shows how active scammers are in Australia. Unfortunately, this number does not cover the true extent of the damage they are inflicting on everyday Australians.’
Source: The Guardian
March ranked as the worst month for scams, with $95,137,362 having been lost, followed by May with $52,764,390.
Investment scams are the main culprit behind Aussies losing their savings this year while phishing scams–when a scammer pretends to be from a legitimate organisation–have been the most reported type of scam, with nearly 32,000 reports in 2022.
In addition, phone scams have been reported as the most common delivery method followed by text message scams.
'Across the year we have seen phone scams and text message scams increase exponentially, as these methods are easy and an effective way for scammers to execute mass phishing campaigns at very little cost,' Mr Covich continued.
'In light of this rise in SMS scams, it is encouraging to see the ACCC register new rules for telecommunications providers to help stop scam messages from reaching customers.
'While this is a step in the right direction, we urge Australians to continue to be vigilant about any unsolicited communications and not to solely rely on these measures to stop scams from getting through.'
Investment scams are the main culprit of the staggering losses. Source: InvestRight.org
One of the many ways to combat scammers is by brushing up on your knowledge about cyber safety. Here are a few reminders from Proofpoint that can help protect you from fraudsters.
1. Never share sensitive information such as your address and bank account or credit card details with someone you don’t know.
2. Be wary of links or attachments from unknown senders whether they are sent over via email, text, or social media platforms.
3. Keep an eye out for spelling and grammatical errors as these can be an indicator that a message is a scam.
4. Only communicate with an organisation through official channels found on company websites.
5. Do not share your passwords with anyone and ensure that you update them regularly.
6. Be cautious about unexpected phone calls or emails with investment offers, travel, and other prizes. If an offer seems too good to be true, it likely is.
You may also check out this eBook that we prepared as a guide to cyber safety. If you have ever received any dodgy text messages or emails, we’d greatly appreciate it if you helped us spread awareness by posting it in the Scam Watch forum in an effort to prevent others from falling victim to a potential scam. Stay safe, everyone! It’s always better to be extra safe than sorry.
Here are more ways to protect yourself from cyber criminals:
Source: Google for Education
