COVID's other epidemic -cybercrime

Don't be too quick to give your details to a scammer. Source: Getty

Lockdown has given cyber criminals yet another opportunity to test new methods of scamming Australians. Investment scams, romance scams, and the latest concern for police - billing scams- are impacting thousands of people stuck at home during the pandemic.

The national competition regulator, the ACCC, says Australians lost 851 million dollars to scams last year (2020).

According to the national regulator, investment scams made up more than third of losses - a total of 328 million dollars.

Romance scams were the next biggest category, costing 131 million dollars.

False billing scams were another huge concern for authorities accumulating up 128 million dollars' worth of losses.

New South Wales police are investigating, after an alleged fake billing scam led to a Sydney couple losing around one million dollars.

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