Scam losses drop to $186.9M but tactics grow more sophisticated, experts warn

Australians have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to scammers in 2026, but the reported figure has actually dropped compared to the same time last year. According to Scamwatch, cybercriminals have cheated Australians out of $186.9 million so far in 2026, down from almost $210 million in the same period of 2025. Total losses last year came to roughly $335 million.

Investment scams took the greatest toll, costing Australians almost $96 million between January and August, followed by romance scams at $17.7 million and account takeover or identity theft at $16.5 million.

Despite the overall decline, experts warn that scammers are becoming more sophisticated, increasingly using artificial intelligence to create deepfake images and videos of trusted personalities to lend weight to their schemes. ANZ bank's cyber services lead Erica Hardinge said it was crucial for people to do a "sniff test" of offers and information online.

"It's really important that individuals go away and do their research themselves, and don't trust immediately what you see online," Hardinge told AAP. "Does this feel too good to be true? Does this feel particularly unusual?"

When feeling pressured, she said it was crucial to step back and break the sense of urgency used by con artists to force decisions. "Breaking of the emotional response that often comes with these requests is incredibly important," she said.

Hardinge also urged people to think carefully about what they share online. "Everything you put online is like a digital tattoo," she said. "It's very hard to remove it once it's out."

Reduction attributed to investment in detection

Hardinge said the reduction in scam losses could be attributed to the uplift in investment by banks, industry, and government in detection and prevention systems. "We're seeing losses reducing, which we can really attribute to the uplift in investment that banks in particular — but industry and government as well — are putting into the systems and the technology to detect and prevent where possible," she said.

Identification checks, which notified users of mismatches between account names and numbers, had been key to stopping dodgy transfers, she added.

The federal government's national Scams Prevention Framework is due to take effect from March 2027.

Scammers build trust, hack websites

Scammers sometimes build trust with victims for months before asking for money and have hacked legitimate websites to switch phone numbers ahead of invoice phishing, according to reports.

A separate study cited by ING found that more than half of Australians use single passwords across multiple sites, almost three in five use weak passwords, and a third don't think carefully before clicking a link.

Matt Bowen, a representative from ING, said victims should not feel embarrassed after being targeted. "Don't be afraid to actually share when you've been tripped up by a scam – it's super prevalent," he said. "The more we talk about it, the more prepared everyone can be."

ING data found that younger and financially active Australians are increasingly being targeted, with Millennials and Gen Z more likely to shop, invest, or manage side-hustles online. "Don't just assume that because you're digitally native or digitally active means that you're good at spotting a scam. Actually, you're more exposed than ever," Bowen said.

ANZ reports rise in scam activity

However, new data released by ANZ to support Scam Awareness Week found that scam activity increased 18 per cent year-on-year from October 2025 to June 2026. The data suggests scams continue to be one of the biggest financial threats facing Australians, with $2.18 billion lost in 2025 according to the National Anti Scam Centre, and even greater amounts expected this year.

ANZ scams lead Ben Verhoef said advancements in technology are making it harder for people to distinguish between real business communications and fabricated scam attempts. "I think scammers do use AI tools to help craft a better message or a message that reads more professionally with better grammar," he said. "We used to recommend things like looking for typographical errors or fonts that don't look quite right, but to be honest, they've overcome a lot of those hurdles."

Online shopping traps under goods and services scams were the most common tactic, while impersonation, investment and romance scams were also highly prevalent, with romance and friendship scams being the fastest-growing type.

The data also identified the end of financial year and university intake seasons as periods that experienced a spike in scam-related activity. International students were flagged as highly susceptible, with Mr Verhoef describing some common tactics used to target them. "We've seen scams use interpreting services or technology that allows them to communicate with victims in their natural language," he said. "Particularly for these students, obviously being a younger demographic I don't think they often know what to do or how to verify and ascertain whether it's a genuine communication."

Examples include international students being held hostage by impersonators pretending to be police or authority figures, and students being targeted with offers of money in exchange for their Australian bank account details after finishing degrees.

ANZ reported that scam losses fell by 24 per cent, with over $100 million saved or recovered by the bank. Customers abandoned more than 476,000 payments over mismatched details. ANZ said there is no shame in being scammed and encouraged people to speak out if they think they may be at risk.