Since July 2023, Australia has cracked down on 14,000 online scams, with over 3,000 involving cryptocurrency. These scams include investment scams and phishing websites, often appearing in online advertisements. ASIC Vice President Sarah Court stated that ASIC will expand its enforcement against investment scams, including social media advertisements.
"We monitor the latest trends through our enforcement capabilities to protect Australians from theft."
In the first half of 2025, global losses due to cryptocurrency hacking, scams, and vulnerabilities reached $2.47 billion, a nearly 3% increase from $2.4 billion in 2024.
This year's cryptocurrency scam ratio is larger.
ASIC launched its anti-scam initiative in July 2023, including referring suspicious websites to third-party companies for investigation and removal. ASIC's scam update released last August showed that about 8% of the scams targeted involved cryptocurrency. Last year, an average of 140 websites were shut down weekly, while this year it has decreased to 130 per week.
ASIC stated that common scams include fraudsters impersonating AI trading bots to generate returns, fake websites impersonating legitimate ones, and fake news articles with AI-generated celebrity endorsements.
Investment scam losses remain the highest but show a downward trend.
Investment scams remain the primary type of scam affecting Australians, with losses exceeding $73 million. However, this is a decrease compared to the $291 million stolen in 2023. ASIC stated that scammers continuously evolve their strategies, often using the latest technology to deceive victims.
Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police are working together to combat the criminal use of cryptocurrency ATMs. From January to date, ReportCyber has reported 150 unique scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, resulting in losses of over $2 million.
