Australians reported $248.3 million in scam losses in the first three months of 2026 alone, with a combined 60,657 reports lodged across Scamwatch and ReportCyber during the period, according to new quarterly data released by the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC).
The data lands as ASIC moves to directly address one of the fastest-growing threats in financial services: impersonation of legitimate licensees. From mid-May, ASIC has been collecting and publishing the website addresses of Australian financial services (AFS) licensees on its Professional Registers Search (PRS), with more than 6,500 licensees invited to participate since launch.
"As the website addresses of more AFS licensees are collected, Australians will be able to more easily distinguish a genuine financial services website from a scam or imposter website by checking against website addresses listed on ASIC's register," said ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland (pictured left) in a media release.
The urgency is clear: since its launch in late 2023, approximately 20% of all new Moneysmart investor alert listings have involved impersonation of an ASIC licensee, an authorised representative, or a registered company.
Despite regulators taking down 5,834 scam websites during Q1 — including nearly 2,000 fake online gambling sites — online contact remained the dominant vector for financial harm. Fake websites, social media, advertisements, and mobile apps accounted for roughly half of all Scamwatch losses during the quarter, with $38.3 million traced to scams that originated through online channels.
ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe (pictured right) said the sophistication of online scams was making detection harder for consumers.
"Scammers are increasingly using polished and professional-looking online content to appear legitimate, which can make it more difficult for Australians to spot a scam," Lowe said in a media release.
Investment scams drove the highest reported losses to Scamwatch in Q1, with Australians reporting $45.5 million lost. That figure sits within a larger and worsening annual trend — the NASC's Targeting Scams Report 2025 found investment scams accounted for $837.7 million of Australia's $2.18 billion in total scam losses in 2025, up 7.8% on the prior year.
Beyond investment fraud, phishing and relationship scams also remained significant threats.
Phishing was the most commonly reported scam type with 13,428 reports, relationship scams saw losses climb to $7.5 million, and email was the leading contact method at 16,759 reports.
The ACCC cautioned against over-interpreting one quarter of data, noting that figures typically fluctuate and a single period does not confirm a trend.
ASIC's new initiative directly addresses the impersonation threat by creating a publicly searchable, authoritative source of legitimate licensee websites. Brokers are well placed to point clients toward the PRS as a first step before transferring funds or sharing personal information.
Commissioner Kirkland made clear that participation is expected to become near-universal.
"ASIC recognises the importance of having a complete register for businesses and consumers. We may consider using compulsory powers to achieve a complete register, if required," he said.
ASIC's initiative sits within a broader regulatory shift placing new obligations directly on the lenders brokers work with. Banks, telecommunications providers, and major digital platforms are the first sectors formally designated under the Scams Prevention Framework, with mandatory anti-scam obligations taking effect from 1 July.
For clients who encounter a suspicious website, ASIC's advice is to cross-check against the PRS at service.asic.gov.au, contact the licensee using details from the register rather than any links provided, and report suspected impersonators to Scamwatch.
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