The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s annual Targeting Scams report has noted a 47% increase in scam reports to the ACCC compared to 2015.
The regulator says that losses reported to Scamwatch, ACORN and other scam disruption programs totalled $299.8 million.
Of these, they say, 45% belonged to Australians over the age of 55.
“We have witnessed a sharp increase in scams taking place through social media sites. It can be really hard to tell who’s genuine and who’s fake these days.” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
She says that the most common scams reported involved dating/romance and fake trading schemes, with the form often being conducted via Facebook.
“Dating and romance scammers trick their victims into falling in love with them and then use their victim’s trust to deceitfully take their money,” Ms Rickard said.
“If someone you’ve met through social media but you’ve never met in person asks you for money, your alarm bells should be ringing. Don’t ever wire transfer or send money to someone you don’t know because you won’t see it again.”
To launch the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce’s Fraud Week, the ACCC have released the following infograph:
