Australians remain prime targets for scammers due to our trusting nature and our country’s overall wealth. Cybertrace understands that many Australians feel that government agencies are unhelpful when it comes to addressing scams, however, this perception is not entirely accurate. Agencies may not take the same hands-on and holistic investigative approach like Cybertrace, however, they do construct effective preventative measures which are designed to protect Australians. In the past two years, Cybertrace has certainly seen more effort from the government to raise awareness and prevent scams.
These measures include the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) investment fraud fusion cell and their continued effort to have fraudulent URLs taken down.
The objectives of the investment fraud fusion cell, as stated by the Australian Competitor & Consumer Commission (ACCC), “were to identify investment scam campaigns and their enabling technologies, to block the use of these enablers, and to identify barriers to prevention and disruption”. For this to work, it relies on a coordinated approach to scam disruption from government, law enforcement and industry.
On the 11th of March 2025, NASC posted an article stating “Australians better protected as reported scam losses fell by almost 26 per cent”. The article provides insight from the ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe, into how various efforts made by government agencies have affected the number of reported scams in the 2024 calendar year compared to 2023.
Lowe states, “We’re committed to providing ever better protection for Australians against increasingly sophisticated scams and are confident that our coordinated efforts across government, law enforcement and industry will continue to drive losses down.”
What has changed between 2023 and 2024?
Statistics; 2023 vs 2024
The statistics reflect combined data from reports submitted to ScamWatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, IDCARE and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The combined data revealed that the number of scam reports fell by 17.8 percent from 2023 to 2024, with 494,732 scam reports completed in 2024 compared to 601,803 in 2023.
As a result of the latest investment fraud fusion cell supported by government agencies, there has been a decrease of 27.3 per cent in the reported losses to investment fraud, with an amount $1.3 Billion lost in 2023 in comparison to the $945 million lost in 2024.
As a result of the 6,000 URLs referred by the NASC takedown service, 92 per cent were successfully removed, resulting in an estimated $36 million being avoided in losses.
As you can see from the above statistics, the efforts of government agencies reflect a promising decrease in the number of scam reports, and the amount lost from 2023 to 2024.
Cybertrace comment
The Australian Government’s initiatives have proven effective in reducing the risks posed by investment scams, and it is important that we acknowledge and commend their ongoing efforts to proactively protect Australians.
While we recognise that the statistics reflect a significant decrease in the number of scam reports, Cybertrace believes it is important to note that government statistics do not capture comprehensive fraud data as the reporting departments do not collaborate with private industry when producing official statistics. Private fraud investigation firms, such as Cybertrace, receive thousands of reports of scams in Australia, many of which are unique reports that are not captured by government reporting.
Cybertrace believes the data collected by the government is only a portion of scam reports and might not be an accurate representation of scam impacts and statistics in Australia.
Furthermore, from first hand experience communicating with fraud victims, Cybertrace investigators have determined that more often than not, these individuals are hesitant to report their situation or seek assistance after falling victim to a scam. As the government agencies and private organisations continue to provide resources and tools to help individuals avoid falling for a scam, the stigma surrounding scams and falling victim to them grows. It is important to consider this when looking at the statistics mentioned in the NASC article, as many scams go unreported.
What could be done?
The investment fraud world is rapidly changing and while the efforts of government agencies aiming to reduce the impact on Australian citizens has proven to be successful, the response to scams need to be adaptable.
With all the knowledge gathered in the government and private sector from reports and investigations into various scams, the ability to predict and prevent new scams techniques is more possible than ever. However, to maximise the effects that these two sectors can have on the development of scams, both sectors need to endeavour to collaborate and communicate effectively.
If we are able to achieve this and bridge the gap between government and private sectors, we will have the ability to better identify areas that require more attention and direct our efforts more efficiently to protect Australians from scams.
