Australians lost $295 million to scams in the first half of 2022, more than double the same period last year, as scammers double down on efforts to swindle consumers during the pandemic.
While losses to scams have increased significantly since last year, the total number of scams reported to the ACCC’s Scamwatch has decreased by 15 per cent, according to analysis by cybersecurity company Proofpoint. This suggests scammers are becoming more effective and sophisticated when stealing personal information and syphoning money from fewer attempts.
March 2022 saw the single greatest monthly loss on Scamwatch’s record, with $95 million in losses reported, while January saw the greatest number of reports for the year at more than 21,000.
Investment scams were the most financially damaging during the first half of 2022, causing more than $219 million in losses, compared to $177 million lost throughout the entirety of 2021. This was followed by dating and romance scams, which cost Australians $16 million in the first half of 2022.
Australians aged over 65 reported the greatest losses to scams over the period, totalling $51 million. Men accounted for 61 per cent ($181 million) in losses, compared to 37 per cent ($111 million) for women.
Rather than focus on spam emails, scammers favoured phone calls – with 33,403 reports of scam calls to Scamwatch, followed by text message scams with 32,700 reports.
“In light of this rise in SMS…
