NSW tops NBN impersonation scam chart with $550K loss

News
07 Nov 20223 mins
Security

Roughly $1.6 million lost to the scam since 1 January.

NSW has ranked as the number one state for National Broadband Network impersonation scam losses so far this year, with at least $553,205 taken by thieves as of 30 September.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ScamWatch, NSW makes up approximately a third of losses to NBN impersonation scams across the country during the first nine months of the year, totalling roughly $1.6 million. 

This is a 10.6 per cent increase on the same period a year ago, which saw a total of $1.4 million lost to the scam. 

Following NSW was Queensland with $470,191, and Western Australia in third with $254,909. Victoria was knocked off its second-place perch from a year ago, falling to fourth place with $216,234. 

Next was the Australian Capital Territory with a quintuple-digit loss of $38,747, South Australia with $27,189, Tasmania with $11,250 and the Northern Territory with $4,359. 

"We also know that only around 13 per cent of victims report any type of scam to Scamwatch which means the prevalence of NBN impersonation scams and losses is far greater than this," said NBN Co chief security officer Darren Kane. 

"Every year, scammers become more sophisticated in their approaches and strategies to extort money. They know how to sound convincing, tap into our everyday behaviours, and can create a sense of urgency which can throw people off."

The losses to NBN impersonation scams come primarily through remote access scams, with the scammers using events such as NBN full fibre upgrades to try and legitimise their reasons for contact, the NBN builder claimed. 

As a means of mitigating the rise in NBN impersonation scams, the builder is hosting a series of online and in-person workshops over the next 12 months through its ScamFit program.

"While older Australians are the most vulnerable to NBN impersonation scams and make up almost one quarter of this year's reports, the ScamFit program aims to equip all Australians with the skills and know-how to identify, respond to, and report such scam attempts," Kane added.

In addition to NBN impersonation scams, Optus also recently put out a warning for a rise in phishing scams following its data breach of 9.8 million customers in late September, which saw customers' names, dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses, ID document numbers like driver's licences, passports and Medicare cards and email addresses leaked.