Australia’s market regulators are planning to expand the crackdown on online fraud after throttling 14,000 online fraud since July 2023, with over 3,000 people being praised for including codes.
Online scams include investment scams, phishing websites and are found in online advertising. ASIC Vice-Chair Court, Sarah, said in a statement that ASIC’s investment fraud enforcement efforts will be expanded to include social media ads.
“The ability to takedowns is an example of how we can act to monitor the latest trends and protect Australians from those who try to steal Australians.”
In the first half of 2025, global losses from crypto hacks, fraud and exploits reached $2.47 billion, an increase of nearly 3% compared to the 2024 $2.4 billion theft.
This year we encrypt most of the scams
ASIC launched its fraud absentee business in July 2023, when it began using the new Takedown Powers, which included referring suspicious websites to third-party companies specializing in cybercrime detection for investigation and removal.
An update to ASIC’s scams released last August revealed that around 8% of deprecated scams are crypto-related, with an average of around 140 takedowns in the week of 2024.
This year, the average number has dropped slightly to 130 takedowns a week.
ASIC said some of the most common schemes include scammers pretending to use artificial intelligence-driven trading bots to generate returns, fake websites pretending to be legitimate, and hoax news articles with support from celebrities whose fraudulent AI has been generated.
Last year, ASIC flagged deepfakes and other AI-generated images as a growing concern, making it more difficult for the average person to detect fraud.
Investment fraud leads losses, but the trend is declining
Investment fraud continues to be the major type of fraud affecting Australians, with more than $73 million reported losses this year, according to the country’s National Anti-SCAM Centre.
However, losses appear to have declined in 2023 at least since 2023, but were stolen from the victim in 2023, and in 2023 it was $291 million.
The total amount Australians have lost to investment fraud appears to have recorded $73 million so far this year, compared to $192 million in 2024. Source: Source: National Anti-Scum Center
The court said fraudsters are constantly evolving tactics and often employ the latest technology in their victims.
“The latest data shows that the National Anti-Scam Center’s coordinated work is fighting fraud, but there’s more to do and encourages Australians to stay vigilant,” she added.
Related: Australia bans financial advisors for 10 years with $9.6 million scam
Meanwhile, ASIC has reiterated that there should be sound skepticism applied to all testimony, celebrity support, AI-generated returns and investment promises offered through WhatsApp, Telegram and other direct messaging programs.
Crypto ATMs are also on the shooting line
Australian regulators are targeting Crypto ATMs again this year.
Australia’s financial intelligence agency, Austrak, and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) led a nationwide crackdown on criminal use of crypto ATMs earlier this year, including pig slaughter victims and suspects.
Australia has the world’s third largest crypto ATM, with 1,968 people growing and the last.
Australia continues to increase the number of crypto ATMs, with 1,871 registered in June and 1,968 in August. sauce: Coin ATM Radar
In June, Austrac rolled out new operating rules and trading restrictions to help Crypto ATM operators fight fraud. Last December, the agency flagged the code as a 2025 priority.
According to AFP, Reportcyber, Australia’s online cybercrime reporting system, received 150 unique reports of fraud, including crypto ATMs between January 2024 and January 2025, with losses exceeding $2 million (Australian dollars $3.1 million).
magazine: Can privacy survive the US crypto policy after the conviction of the Roman Storm?
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