From pedigree puppies to Patrick Swayze, fraudsters swindled nearly $70 million from Australians last year by exploiting a wide swath of online scams.
About 20,000 people reported becoming victims of fraud in 2009 through scams that targeted their "emotional decision making", a new report says.
But Peter Kell, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says real losses could be much higher.
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'Tip of the iceberg'
"This figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg - given people can be embarrassed about reporting that they have fallen victim to scams and lost money in the process," he said in a statement.
The real figure is probably closer to $1 billion, the ACCC's report released on Monday says, if based on calculations by Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates on annual fraud losses.
Most who have lost money to scams have escaped with less than $1,000 in damages, but two unlucky people reported loosing over $10 million each in the past 12 months.
Scam complaints tend to peak mid-year with online scams increasing in popularity, the report says. About 54 per cent of scams involved a "mass-marketed advance fee" where consumers pay costs up front for a product that is never supplied.
In one scam last year, pedigree puppies were sold and consumers paid for transportation costs. The puppy was never delivered and the seller disappeared online.
Bushfire donation scams
Other scams have involved fake donation websites for the Victorian bushfires and sites that convince consumers to reveal personal information to claim unexpected prizes.
Celebrity deaths were also exploited, the report says. When actor Patrick Swayze died, fake news websites shot up online with ads that sold "anti-virus software" as a scam to gain personal information and credit card numbers.
"Regardless of age, gender, education or income level, any consumer can be scammed," the report says. "Everyone is
vulnerable."
The ACCC says such scams artists are hard to track down because they are based overseas. The organisation is instead focusing on prevention and awareness.
