Help Us To Change How Australian Law Enforcement Supports Fraud Victims
We need your help to make real change here in Australia, the time is now.
Over the years we’ve heard endless stories of Australian scam victims being handballed from one law enforcement department to another without getting any real support, and often even getting completely rejected by the Police. We believe the lack of law enforcement response to scammers is what makes Australia one of the world’s leading targets for online scams.
Even in cases where victims present strong intelligence and actionable investigative leads, Police agencies often decline to investigate, citing jurisdictional limitations. In other cases, once an offender has been identified, matters are not escalated to the AFP (Australian Federal Police) for further action.
This demonstrates a serious gap in how fraud and cybercrime cases are handled, leaving victims without support and allowing offenders to continue to operate without any consequences.
KYC Failure Is Enabling Cybercrime
In many cases even when we do have KYC (Know Your Customer) documents provided by a crypto exchange, the police will often not escalate it to the AFP. Additionally, when some cases do get referred to Interpol or the appropriate law enforcement overseas, no action is taken over there.
Scammers are clearly aware of this. This is making it much easier for them to keep operating elaborate online scams, and actually getting away with it – even if their identity is revealed by KYC documents held by crypto exchanges after an investigation is conducted.
What is the point in having KYC documents if the offenders aren’t being charged for their crimes once they have been identified? This system is failing us, and change is needed.
Police Are Failing Australian Scam Victims
Cybertrace CEO and Founder, Dan Halpin has spoken on TV and in the media on numerous occasions regarding the lack of private-public collaboration and how the police are failing Australian scam victims.
This systemic failure to investigate and escalate cybercrime matters not only abandons victims, but also sends a clear message to sophisticated scammers that they can operate with impunity in Australia.
This lack of effective response leaves victims without justice, and allows the financial and emotional toll of these crimes to be further compounded by bureaucratic inaction.
If you have reported a scam to Australian Police and believe your matter was not adequately supported, investigated, or escalated, we encourage you to share your experience by making a submission to the current Parliamentary Inquiry.
Here’s How To Have Your Say
Here’s The Details
Where to send: [email protected]
Subject Line suggestion: “Confidential submission – systemic non-escalation of cybercrime / failure to use KYC”
Submission checklist (keep it brief and 100% factual):
1. Timeline: Dates of scam, date reported to police, any referral (or refusal to refer) to AFP.
2. Escalation failure: Exact wording (or attachment) showing “out of jurisdiction”/no referral/no follow-up.
3. KYC gap: Whether law enforcement sought KYC from the crypto exchange/bank; any evidence the exchange replied but police didn’t follow up.
4. Oversight loop: Outcomes from submission to Cyber.gov.au, state Police etc.
5. The ask: Mandate escalation to AFP for cross-border matters and require agencies to obtain and act on KYC/SMRs; improve inter-agency protocols and accountability.
Privacy notes:
Submissions can be confidential.
Encourage minimal personal identifiers; attach only the relevant records,(e.g., a single email showing refusal to escalate, or an exchange’s “we responded” note).
If they’re unsure, they can state: “Further documents can be produced to the committee on request.”
Tell Your Story, Help Us To Fix Australia’s Cybercrime Response
Let’s make a positive change for the future. The more people that speak up, the more chance there is that the powers that be at Parliament House will listen.
Every submission is a critical step toward holding institutions accountable and ensuring real justice for all Australian scam victims. Click the button below to send your story now.
Feel free to make a comment on this post and tell us about your story.
