Australians, particularly First Nations individuals, are increasingly falling victim to fake online gambling and casino sites, prompting the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) to launch its latest cross-sector fusion cell to combat the malicious platforms.
Known as “scambling”, such sites manipulate the results of gambling, withhold winnings and then urge victims to recruit others.
According to Scamwatch, scambling impacts First Nations Australians disproportionately, with 45 per cent of reported losses in 2025 coming from individuals who identify as First Nations.
“These scams create legitimate-looking online gambling platforms to convince consumers to deposit money for supposed gambling services, often before blocking withdrawals or demanding further payments,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said in an 8 July statement.
“The National Anti-Scam Centre’s latest fusion cell will seek to better understand these scams, which appear to target vulnerable communities and reduce the prevalence of scambling to protect consumers.”
Lowe said that because many victims are unaware they are even being scammed, losses are significantly under-reported. Victims believe they’ve lost money to a legitimate gambling site, so are not aware they are victims of a crime.
“We need to understand how these scams are targeting First Nations communities so that we can prevent this from happening,” Lowe said.
“The fusion cell’s work will create a clearer picture of how the scams operate, the impact they’re having on Australians, the factors that are enabling them and how they can be disrupted.”
Law enforcement and government agencies will join regulators, digital platforms, banks, telecommunications companies and community service providers in the new fusion cell. NASC said these groups will work together to uncover how these platforms operate online and how best to combat them.
The fusion cell will operate until 9 December 2026, with a report on the cell’s outcomes to be published in 2027.
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.