The weekend's unprecedented global cyber extortion attack appears to have largely bypassed Australia but at least 6200 Australians have fallen victim to a form of ransomware in the past year.
An Australian business fell victim to the global malware attack and there are investigations into two other reports.
The consumer watchdog says there has been a rise in scams targeting businesses and warns hacking, malware and targeted phishing now present significant financial and reputational risks to business.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission received 6210 reports relating to ransomware and malware scams in 2016, its latest scams report released on Monday shows.
Most victims did not lose any money after their computer was blocked amid demands for a ransom to be paid to the scammer to unlock the files.
But 227 people lost a total of $241,881.
The majority of the ransomware victims were individuals but the ACCC said reports indicated there was an increase in ransomware emails to businesses.
The most reported ransomware scams targeting Australians last year were delivered through fake emails purporting to be from Australia Post and the Australian Federal Police, the ACCC report said.
The emails ask the recipient to follow a link or open an attachment, causing malicious software to be downloaded that locks their computer.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said one of the most concerning trends has been a fourfold increase in losses to hacking scams reported to Scamwatch.
Businesses accounted for more than half of the $2.9 million in hacking losses reported to the ACCC.
That figure represents only a fraction of the losses Australians have experienced due to hacking, with a further $20.79 million reported lost to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network in 2016.
The ACCC received almost 6000 scam reports from businesses in 2016, with $3.78 million lost.
Ms Rickard said scams targeting businesses are becoming increasingly sophisticated using modern technology to make fake emails, invoices and websites appear legitimate to even the astute business person.
"These scams can have devastating effects on businesses, undoing years of hard work, eroding confidence in their brand, increasing operational costs and in extreme cases may even cripple those businesses," she said.
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