The National Anti-Scam Centre has renewed its warning about scammers lurking on social media platforms, as it continues a major clampdown on bogus job ads.
More people have lost money to social media scams than any other contact method so far in 2024, according to Scamwatch reports.
Over 6,000 Australians have reported losing $58.3 million to social media scams in the first 10 months of 2024. Scamwatch data reveals the top scam loss categories involving social media this year are investment scams ($39.2 million), romance scams ($9 million), and job scams ($4.5 million).
Social media, as a channel to reach potential victims, continues to prove a gold mine for scammers said, ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe.
“Of the more than 216,000 public reports received by Scamwatch in the first 10 months of 2024, just seven per cent (14,156) were about social media scams; however, this type of scam accounts for 22% of the $262 million lost to scams this year,” Ms Lowe said.
“In the September quarter alone, we saw a 146% increase in reported financial losses linked to social media.”
“It shows just how lucrative these scams are for the criminal groups behind them – and serves as a reminder to us all of the need to be suspicious of anyone who unexpectedly contacts us on social media,” she said.
Ms Lowe said scammers seek to deceive social media users and steal their money.
“They routinely take over or set up fake profiles on social media, messaging platforms and apps – and pretend to be a friend or romantic interest, a financial advisor, or a business offering an employment opportunity,” Ms Lowe said. “They learn a lot about you from what you share on social media and trick you into sharing personal information, which they then use target you in other scams.”
National Anti-Scam Centre fusion cells in action
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Scam Centre continues to use scam information reported to Scamwatch by Australians to identify scam trends and sharpen the focus of its disruption activities.
The National Anti-Scam Centre is leading the Job Scam Fusion Cell to coordinate government and industry efforts to crackdown on job and employment scams. The first meeting of fusion cell participants was held in September 2024.
Scamwatch has already received 2,260 reports about job and employment scams in 2024, with total losses of almost $9.7 million. In 2023, 4,831 job and employment scams were reported to Scamwatch, with losses totalling almost $24.4 million.
The fusion cell is already proving effective in disrupting the activities of criminal groups who are stealing from Australian job seekers by advertising or offering jobs that do not exist.
“Job scams involve criminals posing as legitimate businesses or recruiters and targeting jobseekers with lucrative offers to complete tasks – deceiving their victims into handing over money,” Ms Lowe said.
“This public-private taskforce has brought together expertise from social media platforms, online employment websites, banks, cryptocurrency platforms, law enforcement, and commonly impersonated businesses to tackle these scams.”
In its first three months of operation, the fusion cell has taken down over 200 job scam websites, referred over 200 phone numbers for disruption, and is working with law enforcement, government agencies, and cryptocurrency platforms to freeze or restrict cryptocurrency wallets being used in job scams.
The Job Scam Fusion Cell will run until March 2025.
It follows the success of the Investment Scam Fusion Cell which ran from August 2023 to February 2024. That fusion cell resulted in the removal of over 1000 scam advertisements, advertorials, and videos; the takedown of 220 investment scam websites; and 113 consumer calls to confirmed scam numbers being diverted to a recorded warning.
Under the Government’s proposed Scam Prevention Framework, presently before Parliament, tough new mandatory codes would be introduced for banks, telecommunications providers, and social media companies to combat scams and protect their customers.
Scams Prevention Framework
On 13 September 2024, the Australian Government released legislation to establish a new Scams Prevention Framework. The Framework establishes scam prevention principles in legislation that will guide industry-specific, mandatory obligations on designated sectors. The principles create obligations to Prevent; Detect; Report; Disrupt; and Respond to scams, and to establish effective governance systems.
The ACCC welcomes the progress of the Scams Prevention Framework Bill. We recognise the contributions across government and industry to reach this important milestone. We strongly support the Government’s work to introduce mandatory industry codes to protect Australians against scams. The ACCC considers mandatory and enforceable codes are an essential component of success in making Australia a harder target for scammers. We will continue to work closely with the Government and other key stakeholders throughout the consultation period.
The Government’s introduction of mandatory codes will ensure the private sector has clear and enforceable obligations to share intelligence about scam activity and take action to prevent and disrupt scams that target their customers and users.
How to spot and avoid a scam
Social media scams use common tactics like:
- offering a way to make quick, easy money with little risk or effort
- advertising a job which requires you to pay for training or access to work tasks
- inviting you to enter a competition or limited time offer
- offering to buy something you're selling for a high price without seeing it first
- offering items for much lower prices than usual or compared to other sites
- saying they live overseas and can’t meet you in person.
These three simple steps – ‘Stop. Check. Protect.’ – can help prevent loss of money or personal information to scams on social media, including employment scams:
- Stop: Stop and think before you act. Don't send money or hand over personal information to anyone you have only met online. Always remember, if a deal or an offer appears too good to be true, then it probably is! Be wary if you are offered employment without an interview or if a prospective employer asks you to pay for training or access to work tasks.
- Check: Check who you're dealing with and ask yourself, ‘Could the message or call be fake?’ Research the recruiter and the business or individual offering the position. Beware of fake social media profiles. Always check how long a social media account has been active, how many friends or followers they have and how much activity they have had online including posts and photos. A lack of history, detail and followers can be a sign of a fake profile.
- Protect: Act quickly to protect yourself and other if something feels wrong. Report any suspicious contact or activity to Scamwatch immediately. Your report will help protect others. And if you do lose money to a scam, you should contact your bank or financial institution as soon as possible.