Fed gov adds $67.5 million in anti-scam funding

The federal government has added a further $67.5 million in the 2024–25 Budget as part of its plan to crack down on rising scams and fraud. 

The latest budget saw the ACCC, ASIC and ACMA receive $37.3 million over four years in anti-scam funding.

In a joint statement from the Treasury and the minister for communications, Michelle Rowland the additional funding follows the latest ACCC Scamwatch report. 

The joint statement said the budget also backs the introduction of mandatory industry codes and increased use of the secure eInvoicing network.

The industry codes will be first introduced to banks, telcos, social media, digital messaging and search advertising services, requiring them to implement anti-scam measures. 

Legislation to fully introduce the scams codes framework is expected to be introduced to parliament this year, according to the statement. 

Assistant Treasurer and minister for financial services, Stephen Jones said, “There’s clear evidence that our scam crackdown is working, but losses remain far too high.

“We are implementing an ambitious anti‑scam agenda and will continue to introduce strategies that protect people’s money and make it harder for scammers to operate.

“The codes will set a high bar for banks, telcos, and social media giants to prevent, detect and disrupt scam activity operating on their services.

He added Australia is aiming to be “a world leader when it comes to scam prevention.”

Jones added while “scam losses are down first the first time in almost a decade” there is “more to do”.

Report findings 

In its third quarterly update [pdf], the findings revealed Australians reported $73.2 million in losses to Scamwatch, $173.2 million to ReportCyber and $99.2 million to the AFCX.

Findings also showed investment scam losses fell in the January to March quarter of 2024, from 10.1 percent to $47.1 million and dipped 47 percent compared to the corresponding quarter in 2023.

Text messages, emails and phone calls were ranked as the top 3 methods used by scammers, with phishing cheats up 5 percent compared to the previous quarter.  

The report also marks Scamwatch’s first fusion cell report [pdf] which comprises 43 organisations.

The National Anti-Scam Centre taskforce, known as a ‘fusion cell’, focuses on investment scams and is led by the ACCC and ASIC, bringing together officials from the banks, telecoms and digital platforms.

In its reporting, the fusion cell took down over 1,000 fraudulent advertisements, advertorials, and videos on digital platforms. 

It also removed 220 investment scam websites and disrupted 113 attempted calls from scam numbers.  

Earlier in the year, it was reported overall losses to scams decreased by 13 percent to $2.74 billion despite an uptick in reports during 2023. 

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