National Anti-Scam Centre wants Australians to speak up when victimised by online scams
Leaders in the cybersecurity industry are highlighting the urgent need for vigilance and robust security measures as scams continue to cause harm. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Deputy Chair, Catriona Lowe, says victims are being left vulnerable, with some too ashamed to admit they've fallen for a scam.
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00:00Far too many Australians are victim to these criminals, scammers. In 2023, Australians
00:11lost $2.74 billion to scams. That's the reported losses. And we know that around 30% of people
00:21don't report. And one of the reasons for that is that they feel ashamed, they feel responsible.
00:28So this Scams Awareness Week, we are encouraging Australians to share their stories. Because
00:34of course, the more we talk, the less power the scammers have. It helps victims get the
00:40support they need. It also helps the National Anti Scam Centre get intelligence that actually
00:46enables us to disrupt the scams, even though those losses are really huge. We have seen
00:52for the first time a drop in the losses reported by Australians. So we encourage victims to
01:00remember three key words, stop, check, report. So firstly, stop. Before you transfer money,
01:10before you provide that personal information, check. Do I really know who I'm talking to?
01:17Do an independent search and verify those details and report. If something feels wrong,
01:23contact your bank as soon as possible and report the matter to Scamwatch. Scams can
01:29happen to anyone. Scammers are excellent at both exploiting technology to make the scam
01:37seem extremely real, but also our natural human emotions, you know, trust, desire to
01:43find love, desire to do better for your family. So these are natural human emotions. No one
01:50should feel ashamed by getting caught by what is ultimately a crime.