Australians lost $2 billion to scams – and are still waiting for new anti-scam measures to take effect
Publish Date: 2026-03-31 19:57:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
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Increase in Scam Losses: Australians lost over A$2 billion to scams in 2025, marking a 7.8% increase compared to 2024 even with new anti-scam legislation passed in February 2025.
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Predominant Scam Types: Investment scams topped the list, followed by payment redirection, romance scams, phishing, and remote access scams.
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Human Interaction as a Vulnerability: Scammers exploit human psychology, using victims’ emotions like trust, greed, urgency, and fear to manipulate them into compromising actions.
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Scams Prevention Framework: Passed in February 2025, this framework requires banks, telcos, and social media platforms to take measures to prevent, detect, and disrupt scams.
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Delay in Implementation: The legislation has not been enacted due to the ongoing work on finalizing the mandatory industry codes of conduct and defining scope complexities between hacking and scamming.
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Future Protection Initiatives: Despite frameworks, it is critical for individuals to enhance their awareness through “scam quizzes” and government initiatives to test their ability to detect scams and improve resilience.
