Phone scams are 'exploding' and costing vulnerable Australians millions, new data shows

If you have received more than the usual amount of suspicious calls or text messages this year, you're not alone. Key points: Australians are seeing increasing financial losses from phone-based scams Indigenous Australians have reported a sharp increase in money lost in 2021 Experts are calling for vigilance and for people to report potential fraud Phone-based scams are "exploding" and costing vulnerable Australians millions of dollars each year, according to new data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. That's 30 per cent of the $211 million Australians have lost to all scams so far in 2021, compared with phone scams making up 27 per cent of all losses last year and 23 per cent in 2019. We're losing more money on average Financial losses from phishing schemes that trick people into giving out personal information, such as these phone scams, are up 261 per cent in 2021, compared with last year. So far this year, Australians aged 65 and over have reported losses of $20.5 million from phone scams, making up around 32 per cent of the country's financial losses to such schemes and surpassing the $18.3 million they lost to phone scams last year.