The National Anti-Scam Centre's latest Targeting Scams Report found scam losses reported to organisations fell by 25.9% to $2bn in 2024, showing the efforts by government, industry, law enforcement and community organisations are reducing the financial impact of scams on Australians.
This report combines data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, IDCARE and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
According to the combined data, scam reports also fell by 17.8% to 494,732 scam reports for 2024 compared to 601,803 in 2023.
“While we are encouraged by the drop in reported financial losses, we acknowledge scammers are sophisticated and highly motivated criminals. We need to remain vigilant and pivot our defences to maintain this downward trajectory,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
The top five scam types in the combined data were investment, romance, payment redirection, remote access and phishing scams, which jointly accounted for more than 70% of the total combined losses, according to the report.
Investment scams resulted in the highest overall combined losses, with $945m reported lost in 2024.
However, the work of government and stakeholders including through initiatives such as the investment scam fusion cell have led to a decrease of 27.3% from the $1.3bn reported lost to investment scams in 2023.