The ACCC has reported that Australians lost $489Mn to scammers last year, a 44% jump from 2017.
The regulator pointed out a 900% increase in Australian Tax Office impersonation scams and $60Mn of losses to dating and romance scams as particularly worrying.
But deputy chair of the ACCC Delia Rickard warns that this may just be the tip of the iceberg, saying that not everyone who suffers a loss would have reported it to a government agency.