ACCC: Australians Lose over AU$701 Million to Investment Scams in 2021

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released statistics on financial scams within the country in 2021, showing that Australians have lost more than AU$701 million to investment scams this year.

"Scam activity continues to increase, and last year a record number of Australians lost a record amount of money,"ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

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The report compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, major banks and money remitters, and other government agencies, and is based on analysis of more than 560,000 reports.

According to the commission, reported losses to all organisations totalled almost $1.8 billion, but as one-third of victims do not report scams the ACCC estimates actual losses were well over AU$2 billion.

In 2021, investment scams caused the most financial harm (with AU$701 million to Australians, followed by payment redirection scams (AU$227 million), and romance scams (AU$142 million).

The number of reports by Indigenous Australians increased by 43 per cent between 2020 and 2021, and reported losses increased by 142 per cent.

Scamwatch data shows that between 2020 and 2021 there was a 60 per cent reduction in losses from inheritance and unexpected money scams, and only a one per cent increase in losses from travel, prizes and lottery scams. Conversely, losses from investment scams increased by 169 per cent over the 12 months.

Furthermore, Australians lost a substantial amount to the rampant money recovery scams in early 2022. The scams target people who have already lost money to a previous scam by promising to help victims recover their losses after paying a fee in advance. According to data from the ACCC, residents of Australia lost over $270,000 to these scams in the first four months of the year, an increase of 301 percent.