Australian residents were reported to have lost an estimated $148.3 million (221.3 million Australian dollars) to business venture frauds where crypto was utilized as payment in the last year –a 162.4% increase from the estimates in 2021.
As revealed by a Monday fraud action publication from the nation’s consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 3,910 digital currency fraud occurrence filings were made. The average national target lost $37,900 (AU$ 56,600).
The estimated $148.3 million numbers account for 7.1% of the aggregated $2.08 billion (AU$ 3.1 billion) valuation of fraud documented in Australia last year.
Direct bank transfer is maintained as the leading fraud payment means with almost 13,100 reports amounting to $141 million.
Statistics revealed that digital currency fraudsters majorly communicated with targets through social platforms and bank payment fraudsters mainly employed communication through direct calls and emails.
Data published by the ACCC fraud database Scamwatch showed that Australia’s standard business fraud target is a 65-year-old male who was found on a social platform or reacted to a scam publication.
They may be kept entangled in the fraud for a couple of months before finding out that they have been tricked.
ACCC Scamwatch alongside ReportCyber, the nation’s economic crime commission, and others assembled the figures for the publication.