The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the National Anti-Scam Centre have issued a notice warning of scammers falsifying caller IDs to imitate the ACCC, in a scheme designed to gather personal and financial information from unsuspecting individuals.
The warning follows multiple incidents where fraudsters have used publicly listed ACCC contact numbers to impersonate agency staff or misuse the agency’s name while posing as representatives of unrelated organisations.
Some of these calls have also been conducted in languages other than English, making detection more difficult for multilingual households.
The ACCC clarified that it does not initiate outbound calls from reception numbers and will never request sensitive details such as passwords or banking credentials via unsolicited communication.
Deputy chair Catriona Lowe explained that scammers use phone spoofing to disguise their identity, often presenting themselves as government representatives to increase the likelihood their calls will be answered.
“This is a tactic that helps scammers hide their true identity while posing as trusted institutions – it’s designed to lower your guard. If a call or message feels off, trust your instincts and hang up. It’s safer to end the call and check in directly with us,” she said.
The announcement coincides with a continued rise in scams originating from email platforms.
Data from the ACCC’s Scamwatch showed that email overtook other channels in 2024 as the leading source of scam contact. Over 91,000 email-based incidents were recorded last year, with an additional 18,000 reports lodged during the first two months of 2025.
For insurers and brokers, the shifting threat environment is elevating concerns around cyber exposures and client data security.
The growing prevalence of email fraud is driving greater attention to cyber liability coverage and the adequacy of internal fraud prevention systems.
Since the beginning of 2020, Scamwatch has tracked close to $300 million in reported financial losses related to email scams.
Men made up approximately 60% of this figure, with older adults – particularly those aged 65 and over – most affected. This demographic filed over 67,000 scam complaints and incurred $63 million in losses.
In contrast, women between 45 and 54 years old reported fewer incidents but higher average losses, amounting to $29 million from 19,000 reports.
Investment fraud continues to drive the majority of email-based financial losses, with fraudsters often masquerading as investment firms or financial service providers. These scams accounted for nearly half of all monetary damages linked to email contacts.
Other high-impact scams include:
While email is often used during later stages of scam activity, most investment-related frauds begin with a phone call and escalate through other communication platforms such as social media or messaging apps.
