Scams cost Australians over $2bn in 2025, says ACCC

Of those reports, 274,577 resulted in financial losses, which totalled $2.18 billion.

Sixty per cent of all scams came down to five types, all of which resulted in multimillion-dollar scam losses.

Investment scams made up over a third of all scam types, with $837.7 million in losses, followed by payment redirection at $166.8 million, romance scams at $139.9 million, phishing scams at $97.6 million, and remote access at $69.9 million.

Losses for 2025 increased 7.8 per cent compared to 2024. However, this is still lower than the peak losses in 2022, which sat at $3.1 billion, 29.7 per cent higher than 2025.

“Scams are often described as a ‘wicked problem’ because they are complex, fast-evolving, and resistant to simple solutions,” said ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe.

“The Targeting Scams report provides an overview of the scam landscape and highlights the collaboration and shared accountability needed to tackle the harm caused by scams both here in Australia and globally.”

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Lowe also commented on Australia’s endorsement of a Call to Action to Combat Fraud at the UN and Interpol Global Fraud Summit, which it did alongside other G7 nations.

“As Australia and indeed the world faces increasing sophistication in scam activity through artificial intelligence and the industrialisation of criminal syndicates through scam compounds, it is clear more needs to be done, quickly and at scale,” she said.

“It’s also important to note that the actions demonstrated in the report are made possible because Australians took the time to share their experiences. Without people speaking up, we simply wouldn’t have the insights needed to track and disrupt scam activity. We encourage people to report suspicious activity so we can continue improving our understanding and response to scams.”

The ACCC also noted that over 100 private organisations have endorsed a public-private partnership framework to bolster global teamwork in taking down scammers and fighting scams.