Scam Awareness Week kicks-off: taking care is important alongside business disruption efforts
Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin is calling for immediate action from the Federal Government as new scam data reveals a surge in everyday Australians being robbed.
Her call comes as the National Anti-Scam Centre launches Scam Awareness Week, calling for people to ‘Stop. Check. Protect’ before clicking, sharing or paying online.
Ms Tonkin said there has been a big increase in scams reported to Scamwatch, and in the past couple of months consumers have reported losses totalling multiple millions to Consumer Action’s frontlines, with little or no redress offered to victims.
“In the last few months, we have continued to receive calls from distraught scam victims who have told us of life-changing sums being lost to highly sophisticated scams.
“I am deeply worried because the scams crisis in Australia continues while our much-lauded Scam Prevention Framework -passed by Parliament more than six months ago- remains on the shelf,” Ms Tonkin said.
The ACCC said today that Scamwatch received 108,305 reports about scams in the first six months of 2025, with $174.8 million reported lost, a 26 per cent increase compared to the first half of 2024. The data shows a 40.5 percent increase in reports involving losses with 44 per cent among individuals who speak English as a second language, and 55.3 percent for First Nations Australians compared to the same period in 2024.
“Scam Awareness Week is an important initiative, but the new figures reported by the ACCC are deeply worrying. I am calling on the Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino to prioritise implementing the Scam Prevention Framework urgently by designating the digital platforms, telecommunications and banking sectors, and consulting on codes of practice and rules to bring the laws to life.”
“There is no time to wait as criminal scammers are innovating while we stand still.”
ENDS
Media contact: Mark Pearce mark@consumeraction.org.au Tel: 0413 299 567
