A shocking $526,292,444 was lost to scams in 2022, and that’s just the amount that was reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The ACCC’s Scamwatch said there were more than 215,000 scams reported last year with 12.2 per cent of those resulting in a financial loss.
March 2022 was the worst month for scams across the country, accounting for more than $95 million in losses.
Investment scams topped the list by far, accounting for more than $351 million in losses throughout the year. This was followed by dating and romance scams and phishing scams.
Interestingly, Aussies were targeted the most by scammers through text messages, with more than 69,000 reports, but the biggest financial losses came from those who were targeted by a phone call, with losses exceeding $130 million.
Those aged 65 or over lost the most amount of money, coming in at around $130 million. This was followed by those aged 55 to 64 ($90 million lost) and those aged 35 to 44 years ($85 million lost).
Females reported being targeted by a scam more than men did but men were more likely to lose money as a result.
Around 50.2 per cent of women reported being hit by a scam, compared to 47.4 per cent of men, but men lost more than $250 million combined, whereas women lost $211 million combined.
Those in New South Wales were targeted the most and lost the most, followed by Victoria and Queensland.
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