These four scams could cost you thousands. Here’s how to spot them

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Two years ago, I wrote that financial scams have skyrocketed in the past decade. And while our broad understanding and awareness of scams has improved since then, it’s still an issue that costs us far too much.

One of the greatest challenges with financial scams is that they’re not only becoming increasingly sophisticated, they’re also fast moving, meaning keeping up with risks and tactics can be difficult.

What we do know for sure is that in Australia, more than $2.1 billion was lost to financial scams between 2020 and 2025, with almost 1.5 million people reporting these crimes. Sadly, the true figure is likely even higher.

In 2025 alone, there was a 5 per cent increase in the amount of money lost to financial scams, with Scamwatch finding a total of $334.9 million was stolen from Australians. Among the scams which saw people lose the most were investment scams, phishing scams and romance scams, while shopping scams were among the most common.

So in the interest of keeping up to date, here’s some useful information to arm yourself against four of the most common and expensive scams we’re up against today.

Unfortunately but perhaps unsurprisingly, investment scams remain the most common, with $172.2 million in losses reported in 2025 alone in Australia. But if you think that’s bad, that figure blows out to a jaw dropping $1.2 billion over the five years between 2020 and 2025.

Scams often find us when we are busy and therefore aren’t paying close attention.

Victorians and NSW residents have been the worst hit, making up almost 50 per cent of all claims (24,622 from a total of 51,149) over the five-year period, and of that, men make up more than two-thirds of victims (64 per cent). Between men and women, though, the median amount lost in investment scams are fairly........

© Brisbane Times