Australians reported losing at least $180 million of cryptocurrency in investment scams in just 12 months, with victims now more likely to be under the age of 50 years.
Acknowledging there are members of the public under financial pressure, the AFP is urging all Australians to be extra aware of the proliferation and sophistication of scams - especially offers that appear too good to be true.
It comes as the AFP has joined forces with state and territory police to encourage all Australians to 'share a story, stop a scam', for Scams Awareness Week, which runs from August 26-30.
As part of Scams Awareness Week, the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) is revealing new data that shows nearly half of all investment scam losses reported to police involve cryptocurrency.
The data also shows people under the age of 50 overtaking older Australians as the most reported victims of investment scams.
The data, collected by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) through reports made to police via cyber.gov.au, and released by the JPC3, shows that Australians reported losing $382 million to investment scams in the 2023-24 financial year. Nearly half (47 per cent) of the investment scam losses involved cryptocurrency.
During this period, Australians aged under 50 years made up about 60 per cent of the overall investment scam reports made to police through ACSC's cyber.gov.au.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Richard Chin said the data revealed that it was a misnomer that only older people were victims of scams.
"Scams Awareness Week is a timely reminder for all members of the community to know the signs of an investment scam and how to avoid becoming a victim," Assistant Commissioner Chin said.
"Investment scams are fraudulent schemes that deceive people into investing money under false pretenses. Scammers promise high returns with little risk, using convincing marketing and new technology to make the investment sound too good to miss.
"Scammers often use pressure tactics and different methodologies to lure victims into making poor investment decisions, with two common methods being pig butchering and using deepfake technology."
He said investment scams were often underreported as individuals were either not aware they were victims, or too embarrassed to report the crime to authorities.
"We want to reassure the community that the AFP, together with our state and Commonwealth law enforcement partners, are committed to assisting victims and stopping scammers in their tracks," he said.
"The AFP and its policing partners work closely with the banking industry and digital currency exchanges to assist victims of investment scams and try to recover money lost to scammers.
"Remember, don't feel pressured to invest. If you have any doubts, stop communicating, and always get independent financial advice before you invest.
"If you believe you are a victim of an investment scam, notify your financial institution or digital currency exchange and alert police through cyber.gov.au.
"We also urge victims to stop all communication with the scammer, move any funds from the account the scammer can access to another account, remove any authorisations given to them, and do not make further transfers."
He encouraged all members of the public to exercise a high degree of caution when approached by unknown entities on the internet or over online communication platforms offering an investment opportunity.
"If you are a victim of an investment scam, think about telling your friends, family or community what happened. The more people who know about these unscrupulous criminals, the harder it will be for them to scam victims," Assistant Commissioner Chin said.
"If an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
"Financial gain is what motivates most scammers however stolen funds could be used to bankroll future criminal ventures such as money laundering, trafficking illicit drugs, or human exploitation.
"We have seen instances where people are exploited and made to work in horrific conditions for organised crime groups to scam people."
"We want to educate Australians about some common tactics these criminals are using to deceive Australians every day into handing over their hard-earned money."
TheJPC3 is also releasing a video message as part of the annual awareness initiative that highlights how scammers operate and the importance of sharing stories so others can better protect themselves.
The initiative brings together officers from across the country, including all state and territory police agencies.
Common tactics include:
Pig butchering
Pig butchering is a tactic where scammers devote weeks or months to building a close relationship with their victims on social media or messaging apps, before encouraging them to invest in the share market, cryptocurrency, or foreign currency exchanges. Inexperienced investors and lonely individuals are often the target of this tactic.
Victims think they are trading on legitimate platforms, but the money is siphoned into an account owned by the scammers, who created fake platforms that look identical to well-known trading and cryptocurrency sites.
Scammers will show fake returns on these platforms to convince victims to invest more money. Once they have extracted as much money as possible, the scammers disappear with all the invested funds.
When the victims realise that they've been scammed and stop communicating with the scammers, the scammers will often contact them purporting to be from a cryptocurrency recovery business, claiming they can recover the lost funds for a fee. This is a false claim by the scammers and designed to further scam the victims.
Deepfakes
Deepfakes are lifelike impersonations of real people created by artificial intelligence technologies. Scammers create video ads, images and news articles of celebrities and other trusted public figures to promote fake investment schemes, which can appear on social media feeds or be sent by scammers through messaging apps.
Some signs of a deepfake video include the person speaking with unusual pauses, odd pitches, or different accents, their face and mouth movements may not match their speaking tone, and the video may be in low resolution.
If you are a victim of cybercrime, report it to police using the report button at www.cyber.gov.au
Report scams to the National Anti-Scam Centre at www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam.
If you were contacted via social media, report it to the social media platform.
If you are concerned that your identity has been compromised, contact the national identity and cyber support service IDCARE at www.idcare.org.
If there is an immediate threat to life or risk of harm, call 000.
If you, or someone you know needs help, we encourage you to contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, who provide 24/7 support services.
The JPC3 brings together Australian law enforcement and key industry and international partners to fight cybercrime and prevent harm and financial loss to the Australian community.
The National Anti-Scam Centre is Australia's anti-scamming nerve centre, where industry and government work together to protect the nation and make it a harder target for scammers.
The JPC3 and NASC are committed to equipping all Australians with the knowledge and resources to protect themselves against cybercrime.
Watch our cybercrime prevention videos and protect yourself and others from being victims of cybercrime.
Risk Warning: Cryptocurrency is a unregulated virtual notoriously volatile instrument with a high level of risk. Any news, opinions, research, data, or other information contained within this website is provided for news reporting purposes as general market commentary and does not constitute investment or trading advice.
