Tricks of a dodgy trade

Australians are on track to lose more than $200 million to scammers this year. According to Scamwatch, in 2020 they parted with $176 million, with 216,000 cases reported to authorities (10.6% involved financial loss). Already 2021 is looking worse. The figure for January and February is $43 million, with 40,000 cases reported (9.7% involved a loss).

“With another year of undoubted uncertainty ahead, we can be sure the threat landscape will continue to evolve and with the evidence pointing towards phishing remaining as one of most the successful tactics of choice by scammers, this will likely continue in 2021 as scammers look to capitalise on the ever-changing shifts in global news agendas,” says Crispin Kerr, vice-president for Proofpoint in Australia and New