How to Spot Online Scams in Australia: Why It’s Harder Than Ever

Online scams are no longer clumsy emails riddled with spelling mistakes or obviously fake phone calls from “the tax office”. In Australia, scams have become a sophisticated, well-funded industry — and everyday Australians are losing billions of dollars each year.

According to ACCC Scamwatch data, Australians lose over $3 billion annually to scams, with losses continuing to rise despite greater awareness. What’s changed isn’t just the volume — it’s the capability. Scammers are now using artificial intelligence, deepfake technology and voice cloning to appear more convincing than ever before.

The uncomfortable truth is that spotting a scam today requires more than just “being careful”.

The Rise of Smarter, Faster and More Personal Scams

Modern scams are targeted, researched and emotionally engineered.

Where scams once relied on mass emails sent to millions of people, today’s scams are often tailored to you specifically. Scammers scrape data from social media, data breaches, online marketplaces and even professional profiles to build believable stories.

Common modern scam scenarios in Australia include:

• Fake bank fraud alerts that reference real transactions

• Phone calls that clone the voice of a loved one asking for urgent help

• Investment scams using deepfake videos of well-known Australians

• Business email compromise targeting SMEs and accountants

• Fake delivery notifications tied to real online purchases

These scams work because they align with real-world behaviour. We bank online. We invest digitally. We expect parcel deliveries. We trust familiar brands.

AI Has Changed the Game

Artificial intelligence has given scammers three powerful advantages.

Deepfake Video

Scammers can now generate realistic videos of public figures — including Australian business leaders, politicians and media personalities — promoting fake investment platforms or urgent warnings. These videos are professionally produced and increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate content.

Voice Cloning

With just a few seconds of audio (often sourced from social media), scammers can clone a person’s voice. Australians have already reported receiving calls that sound exactly like their child, partner or manager — complete with emotional urgency and convincing detail.

Perfect Language and Timing

AI eliminates the tell-tale grammar mistakes that once gave scams away. Messages are now well-written, contextually accurate and sent at moments designed to provoke fast action — late at night, during busy workdays or immediately after real transactions.

The result is a new class of scams that don’t feel like scams at all.

Why Australians Should Be Concerned (Even If They’re “Tech-Savvy”)

There’s a persistent myth that scams only work on people who are careless or inexperienced. In reality, many victims are professionals, business owners and financially literate individuals.

Scams succeed because they:

• Exploit trust, not ignorance

• Create urgency, not confusion

• Target emotion, not logic

Even a brief lapse — responding while distracted, stressed or fatigued — can be enough. And unlike traditional crime, once scam funds are transferred, they are often unrecoverable.

Beyond financial loss, victims frequently experience embarrassment, stress and a loss of confidence in the digital systems they rely on every day.

The New Reality: Trust Must Be Verified

In a world of AI-generated voices and faces, familiarity is no longer proof. Seeing a recognisable face, hearing a trusted voice or receiving a message that references accurate personal information does not guarantee legitimacy.

The new rule is confronting but necessary:

Anything digital can be faked.

That doesn’t mean Australians should fear technology — but it does mean engaging with it more critically and deliberately.

Five Practical Ways Australians Can Spot a Scam

These aren’t generic warnings — they’re real-world checks that actually stop scams.

1. Urgency That Overrides Normal Process

Scammers push people to act outside usual procedures:

• “This must be done today”

• “Don’t speak to anyone else”

• “Your account will be frozen in one hour”

Legitimate organisations rarely demand immediate action without offering clear, verifiable pathways. Urgency combined with secrecy is a major red flag.

2. Check the Channel, Not Just the Message

A message may look legitimate — but is it arriving through the right channel?

Banks don’t resolve fraud via SMS links. Government agencies don’t demand payment through gift cards or cryptocurrency. Businesses rarely change payment details via email alone.

When in doubt, initiate contact yourself using a known, official channel — not the one provided in the message.

3. Be Wary of “Too Accurate” Personalisation

Modern scams often include real data: your suburb, employer, recent purchases or bank. Ironically, messages that feel highly specific can be more dangerous than generic ones.

Ask yourself: How would this sender reasonably know this information — and why are they contacting me this way?

4. Pause When Emotion Is Doing the Heavy Lifting

Fear, excitement and empathy are the most commonly exploited emotions:

• Panic about losing money

• Excitement over unexpected investment opportunities

• Concern for a loved one in distress

If a message makes you feel emotionally rushed, pause. Scammers rely on emotional momentum — breaking that momentum is often enough to expose the scam.

5. Treat Verification as Normal, Not Rude

Australians are often reluctant to double-check for fear of appearing distrustful. In today’s environment, verification is responsible behaviour.

Calling back, asking follow-up questions or requesting confirmation through another channel isn’t scepticism — it’s self-protection.

Final Thoughts: Who Is Actually Responsible When a Scam Happens?

When a scam occurs, the instinctive response is to look for someone to blame.

Was the victim careless?
Should the bank have stopped the transfer?
Why can’t police just track the money and shut these operations down?

In Australia today, the uncomfortable reality is that the burden still falls heavily on the consumer — and whether that’s fair is very much open to debate.

Banks have historically argued that if a customer authorises a payment, responsibility ends there. While this position is slowly shifting, and additional guardrails such as payment warnings, delays and monitoring are being introduced, most scam losses are still not reimbursed. The system largely assumes individuals are best placed to protect themselves, even as scams become increasingly sophisticated.

Law enforcement faces a different challenge. Despite fraud being illegal and well legislated, most large-scale scam operations are based offshore. They operate across borders, often in jurisdictions where local enforcement is under-resourced, compromised, or simply unwilling to intervene. Once funds leave Australia, recovery becomes extremely difficult — and in many cases, impossible.

The result is an awkward but realistic truth: scams are now an unavoidable part of modern digital life.

They aren’t going away. With AI, automation and global connectivity accelerating, it’s likely the problem will worsen before it improves.

That doesn’t mean responsibility sits with one party alone. Banks, regulators, technology platforms and governments all have roles to play — and progress is being made, albeit slowly. But for now, risk minimisation is a shared effort, and consumers remain the final line of defence.

In a world where voices can be cloned, faces can be faked and messages can be perfectly crafted, blind trust is no longer a viable strategy. Awareness, verification and healthy scepticism are no longer optional skills — they are essential ones.

Therefore, we believe smart engagement with technology means understanding both its upside and its risks. Scams may be an unfortunate reality of the digital economy, but informed Australians are far harder targets — and that remains the most practical protection available today.