Here are the Most and Least-Scammed States & Territories

Australians lost a record $324 million to online scammers in 2021, up nearly double from $176 million in 2020. Since 2019, 742,000 Australians lost nearly $850 million.

These statistics are alarming and in lock step with the broader global trend in which scammers have thrived during the pandemic. 

COVID-19 led to more people working, shopping, and socializing online. This created tremendous opportunities for cybercriminals who have become exponentially sophisticated in recent years.

Law enforcement officials in the U.S., UK, and countries around the world have noted similar increases as seen in Australia over the last several years. 

At Social Catfish, we are committed to eradicating online scams and have seen a surge in users to our website from Australia over the last year. 

To help raise awareness, we are issuing our inaugural State of Online Scams in Australia study after analyzing data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) from 2019 to April 2022, and trends from Australian users on SocialCatfish.com. 

Below we share the insights from our analysis including:

• A breakdown of which States & Territories lost the most money and had the most victims.
• The most common online scams in 2022 to avoid.
• The most vulnerable age groups.
• Tips to avoid online scams. 
• LEAKED New Nigerian Romance Scammer Bible: “How To Make White Woman Fall In Love From Online Chat”

Scam Victims by State or Territory

Of the estimated 742,000 Australian scam victims since 2019 whose state or territory of residence is known, a combined 55 percent hailed from New South Wales and Victoria, which have a combined population of nearly 15 million and are the nation’s most populous states.

So, to make a fair comparison it’s necessary to adjust our analysis to compensate for population differences. At a rate of per 100,000 residents, ACT (the Australian Capital Territory) has the highest rate of scam victims per 100,000 residents, almost double the next-highest rate, which is NT (Northern Territory)

Scam Losses by State or Territory

Victims in New South Wales have lost the most money in scams since 2019, a combined $231 million, and they have the highest per-report loss, at just over $1,000 each. Victims in Queensland aren’t far behind when it comes to dollars lost per incident.

Most Common Scams in Australia

Attempts to gain personal information are the most common type of scam in Australia, accounting for about 40 percent of all reports over the past three years. Buying or selling scams and travel, prizes, and lottery scams are also quite common.

But while personal information scams are the most common, they’re far from the most costly in terms of sheer dollars lost. That dubious honor goes to investment scams, which cost the average victim just shy of $18,000.

Romance Scams by Age in Australia

While romance scams aren’t the most common type of scam reported in Australia (they rank eighth out of 10), they are the second-costliest in terms of losses per incident. The average romance scam victim loses more than $11,000 in these incidents, though older victims are much more likely to lose large sums than younger ones (perhaps because they have more money socked away than their younger counterparts).

HOW THE 3 MOST COMMON SCAMS WORK:

1) Investment Scams: Cybercriminals will offer once-in-a-lifetime opportunities with high rates of return and little risk. The “opportunity” may even have a stunning website but everything on it is fake. 

How to Avoid: Do not invest with someone you do not know without exhaustive research. The hot scam is to ask you to fund the investment using cryptocurrency, or to invest in a new type of crypto.  

2) Romance Scams: Scammers target online singles and get them to fall in love.  Though they never agree to meet, they earn the victim’s trust and begin to request money for emergencies.

How to Avoid: Never give money or personal information — which can be used for identity theft — to anyone you have not met in person. Take their online photo and do a reverse image search with it to confirm their real identity in seconds.

3) Jobs and Employment: Scammers reach out offering a job requiring little effort and high returns, all you need to do is pay to receive the starter kit.  Of course, you never receive the kit or get your money back. 

How to Avoid: Be wary of unsolicited work-from-home job offers that seem too good to be true. Conduct exhaustive research on anybody you plan to do business with.

5 TIPS TO AVOID ONLINE SCAMS

• Do not give money or personal information to someone on the Internet whom you have never met in person. 

• Do not trust anyone that will not video chat or meet in person.

• To verify if a person is who they say they are, use the photo from their online profile to do a reverse image search.

• If a financial or government agency reaches out asking for money, do not respond and call that organization directly on your own to verify. 

• Use a password manager to create many passwords for your accounts. This way if they steal one, they do not have access to all your accounts. 

In conclusion, there will always be criminals taking advantage of advances in technology to steal from others. However, by raising awareness and educating people about the threats they face online, we can mitigate those risks. 

If you are the victim of an online scam, report it to the ACCC.