Australians have reported almost $260 million in scam losses in the first nine months of 2025, with the National Anti-Scam Centre warning that online shopping scams are accelerating ahead of Black Friday.

New data from Scamwatch shows 159,319 scam reports were lodged between January and September, with losses hitting $259.5 million – a 16% increase year-on-year, despite a 20% drop in total reports.

Shopping scams have become the most common scam type involving financial loss, generating $8.6 million in losses from 9,628 incidents, up 19% from 2024.

Fake retail websites, social media ads and mobile apps are driving the surge, with online content now responsible for 47% of total losses.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said scammers are exploiting the frenzied shopping period.

“Scammers love Black Friday sales too because they know shoppers are looking for bargains,” Lowe said. “We remind consumers to take their time, check website legitimacy and be cautious about sharing personal or financial information.”

A growing number of scams now involve compromised social media accounts, particularly on Facebook and Instagram.

Once inside an account, scammers impersonate the owner to push fake “fire sales”, ticket offers, grants or investment schemes.

They then expand the scam by convincing friends to share one-time login codes, enabling a chain of account takeovers.

Lowe urged Australians to verify suspicious messages: “Contact the person through another channel, like a phone call or text. It can alert your friend and help them recover their account.”

Vulnerable groups are reporting higher losses this year, including people with a disability (up 12%), those with English as a second language (up 35%) and First Nations people (up 50%).

While shopping scams are surging, other scam categories have eased.

Investment scam losses fell slightly to $128.4 million, rebate scam reports dropped 50%, false billing scam reports halved, and remote access scam reports fell 47%.