Australians Lost over $270,000 in Money Recovery Scams, ACCC Reported

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), a competition regulator in Australia, has highlighted an alarming surge in the overall losses due to money recovery scams, which 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. Data from Scamwatch shows a 725 percent surge in reports about money recovery scams received in the four months. Scamwatch received 66 reports reports of money recovery scams in the first four months of 2022.

The Aussie regulator alleged that scammers target previous scam victims, contacting them out of the blue, and pose as a trusted organisation such as a law firm, fraud taskforce or government agency. They may have official looking websites and use fake testimonials from other victims they have 'helped'.

As well as an up-front payment they often ask victims to fill out fake paperwork or provide identity documents. Scammers may request remote access to computers or smart phones, enabling them to scam their unsuspecting victims.

Another tactic scammers use is to contact people by phone or email who haven't actually been a victim of a scam and convince them that they've unknowingly been involved in one and are entitled to a settlement refund.

"Scammers will ask for money and personal information before offering to 'help' the victim and will then disappear and stop all contact,"ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said."If you get contacted out of the blue by someone offering to help recover scam losses for a fee, it is a scam. Hang up the phone, delete the email and ignore any further contacts."

In addition to the money recovery scams, Australians lost a substantial amount to the rampant crypto scams. Therefore, ACCC has become extremely vigilant and is actively flagging and taking action against any violations related to crypto assets.

Earlier this year, the Aussie regulator has taken Mark Zukerberg-led Meta Platforms to court, alleging that its social media unit Facebook allowed scammers to run fake cryptocurrency advertisements.