New plan to get up to $3,000 back in pockets of scam-hit Australians

Critics have said such a move could embolden scammers but the government insists its proposal is a "balanced approach".

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino put forward the plan under the new Scams Prevention Framework. Source: Getty / Andrzej Rostek

In Brief

• Data shows more Australians are being targeted by scammers, but it's costing them slightly less than in previous years.
• Critics say the scheme risks "incentivising" low-level scams.

Australians who have lost up to $3,000 to scams could be entitled to automatic reimbursement under a new federal government proposal. 

The plan, put forward on Thursday by the Treasury as part of its broader Scams Prevention Framework, would require banks, telecommunications companies, and digital platforms to reimburse victims who have been scammed via through their services.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino told ABC radio the automatic payment system "makes sense" as scams under $3,000 represented a high proportion of the total number of claims, but a relatively small proportion of losses.

"Scams are a very insidious form of crime," he said.

While more Australians are being targeted by scammers, they're slightly less out of pocket than in previous years.

In 2025, the median amount victims lost to scams was $400, according to data published in the latest Targeting Scams report produced by the National Anti-Scam Centre.

That's a decrease from the year before, when the median victim lost $500. At the same time, the total amount lost to scams has increased by 8 per cent to $2.18 billion.

Mulino said that "six-figure" scams like investment and romance scams would be dealt with by separate dispute resolution processes.

Older Australians, who make up 17.1 per cent of the population, are most vulnerable to scams. They make up 26.5 per cent of losses. First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD) often lose the most to scams.

Incentives for scammers?

In the United Kingdom, scam losses of up to $48,000 have been automatically compensated since 2024.

However, the UK doesn't include digital platforms in the scheme — only banks and other service providers for scams where a victim is tricked into sending money to a criminal via a bank payment.

Mulino said Australia's threshold would be lower to avoid sending "the wrong incentives for perpetrators to see Australia as a soft target".

The Treasury's inclusion of digital platforms puts some of the biggest tech companies on notice.

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta argued automatic reimbursement could lead to users being less vigilant of scams. Source: AAP / David Zalubowski

Mulino said it would apply to "any digital platform with a certain number of users and more than a billion dollars turnover, so that's going to capture pretty much all of them".

In a January submission, Meta argued that including tech platforms in the Scam Prevention Framework discouraged "consumer vigilance in avoiding scams".

"And in doing so, will result in industry subsidising and emboldening criminal scam syndicates," it read.

The assistant treasurer said they were monitoring potential risks of the reimbursement scheme.

"I'm confident a balanced approach to small transactions will see a reasonable outcome."

---

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.