Tasmanians are being warned to watch out for investment scams with more than $26 million already lost nationally this year.
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Scamwatch revealed Australians were collectively losing $4.3 million a month to these types of scams.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard said people aged 45 to 64 were most at risk and made up more than half of the reports sent to Scamwatch.
“The losses to investment scams are horrific,” she said.
“Each week the ACCC receives heartbreaking accounts of people losing hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars.”
Last year, more than $64.6 million was lost nationally to investment scams, which included scams relating to stocks, real estate and commodities.
“Scammers will spend significant time and effort grooming their victims to invest,” Ms Rickard said.
“They will use the right technical language and also offer professional looking websites and documents to convince victims they are legitimate.
“It’s often only when people try to cash out their investment that they realise their money is gone.”
The public is also being warned about cryptocurrency scams, which the ACCC said were now the second most common type of investment scam.
“The rise in popularity in cryptocurrency trading has not been missed by scammers who are latching onto this new trend to con people.
“These are similar to any other investment scam, the scammer will claim to have inside knowledge about price movements they will use to make you a fortune. If you invest, your money will quickly disappear.
“It can be very difficult to tell what is and isn’t legitimate these days. If someone calls, emails or texts you out of the blue with investment advice, don’t engage with them no matter how legitimate they sound.”
Investment scams can be reported online at asic.gov.au or www.scamwatch.gov.au.
