Reported scam losses of $63m the tip of the iceberg

Stuart Corner
Monday, 07 March 2011 16:45

IT Policy - Regulation

The ACCC says it received around 42,000 scam-related reports in 2010, double the number in 2009. Reported losses totalled $63m and one victim lost $4m.

The ACC has released its annual report on consumer fraud, to mark the start of National Consumer Fraud Week 2011, which this year has a focus on the impact of scams on individual victims, under the theme 'Scams: It's Personal'.

According to the report: "Between 1 January and 31 December 2010 consumers reported to the ACCC losses of $63,436,348 to scam activity. This is slightly less than that reported in 2009 and is based solely on information provided to the ACCC by complainants'¦The ACCC considers that the figure represents only a small proportion of total losses'”many scams are unreported and the ACCC is only one of many agencies that receive scam complaints'¦Sixteen per cent of consumers reporting scam activity to the ACCC accounted for the total money lost. Reported losses ranged from $1 (for an automatic deduction to charity) to almost $4 million (for an advance fee fraud)."

The ACCC says: "A notable trend was the increase in scams initiated by telephone, which grew from around 2,000 in 2009 to more than 14,000 reports in 2010'¦It appeared that many of these calls may have originated offshore and it's likely that they are taking advantage of cheap or free voice over internet services."

ACCC deputy chairman, Peter Kell, said: "The often debilitating personal effect of scams is why the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce is committed to educating Australians about the dangers of scams and equipping them with the tools to identify them."

The  taskforce - which Kell chairs - was formed in March 2005 and comprises 22 government regulatory agencies and departments with responsibility for consumer protection regarding frauds and scams.

Also, The ACCC operates a Scamwatch website dedicated to information on scams in Australia (www.scamwatch.gov.au) and it has just launched its Twitter account, SCAMwatch_gov.