Australians lost half a billion dollars to scammers – how to avoid becoming a victim

Scammers tricked Australians out of almost half a billion dollars in 2018 after more than 378,000 scams were reported – an increase of 44 per cent over the losses reported in 2017.
These alarming figures were revealed during Scam Awareness Week in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) 10th annual Targeting Scams report.
And the concern is the scammers are becoming even more sophisticated and posing as trusted institutions like banks, the tax office and popular retailers