Australians lost $2 billion to scams – and are still waiting for new anti-scam measures to take effect

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Mar 31, 2026 · 773 words · By Mohiuddin Ahmed

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What to know about Australians lost $2 billion to scams – and are still waiting for new anti-scam measures to take effect

The article reports on a 7.8% increase in Australian scam losses in 2025, citing new ACCC data. It explains the delay in implementing anti-scam legislation and outlines various scam types, while discussing the Scams Prevention Framework's requirements and challenges in enforcement.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Australians lost more than A$2 billion to scams in 2025, new figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) show.

Why it matters

And it’s in spite of the fact the federal government passed legislation in February 2025 enforcing strict anti-scam obligations on banks, telcos and social media platforms.

Common ground

Those obligations, however, aren’t yet in force.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Australians lost $2 billion to scams – and are still waiting for new anti-scam measures to take effect?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Australians lost more than A$2 billion to scams in 2025, new figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) show?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/australians-lost-2-billion-to-scams-and-are-still-wa…

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 5

verified Verified By Reference 3

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Claim 1: “Australians lost more than A$2 billion to scams in 2025, new figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) show.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

No evidence in Wikipedia entries relates to scam losses or ACCC 2025 data. Evidence cited is about Australian federal elections and Valve Corporation.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A federal election was held on 3 May 2025 to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, along with 40 of the 76 seats in the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Australian_federal_electi…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, hardware, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Corporation

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Claim 2: “The National Anti-Scam Centre reported five major types of scam: Investment, Payment redirection, Romance, Phishing, and Remote Access.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in any sources about National Anti-Scam Centre scam classifications.

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Claim 3: “Investment scams were responsible for more than A$837 million in losses last year.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in any sources about investment scam losses in 2024.

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Claim 4: “The Scams Prevention Framework is not yet active.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in any sources about the operational status of the Scams Prevention Framework.

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Claim 5: “The Scams Prevention Framework passed Australian parliament in February 2025.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in any sources about the Scams Prevention Framework passing in 2025.

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Claim 6: “This was a 7.8% increase compared to 2024.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia evidence relates to Iran-Israel conflict and cyclone seasons, with no mention of scam statistics or percentage increases.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In 2024, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries in April, July, and October that year. On 1 April, Israel bombed an Iranian consulate c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Iran–Israel_conflict

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 Australian region cyclone season was an above-average and damaging tropical cyclone season, producing 12 tropical cyclones and 8 severe tropical cyclones. Notably, it was the first above-a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_Australian_region_cycl…

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Claim 7: “The Scams Prevention Framework does not classify hacking as a scam.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in any sources about scam classification definitions in the Scams Prevention Framework.

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Claim 8: “The federal government passed legislation in February 2025 enforcing strict anti-scam obligations on banks, telcos and social media platforms.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia evidence for February 2025 includes US-Russia meetings and death records, but no legislation or anti-scam laws are mentioned.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2025 (MMXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2025th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 25th year of the 3rd millennium and the 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of notable deaths in February 2025. Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_February_2025

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The February 2025 United States–Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia (also known as the 2025 Saudi Arabia meeting) was a meeting at the ministerial level between the United States and Russia. It was held on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2025_United_States–Ru…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.