Although more and more people are becoming more vigilant about investment scams, it seems that more people have fallen victim to unscrupulous swindlers-Australians surrender more than A $4 million a month to cheaters. Total losses this year are expected to exceed A $100 million.
Last year, Scamwatch, the Australian competition and consumer commission`s fraud watchdog, and the Australian cybercrime online reporting network found losses on investment scams to be as high as A $64.6 million, compared with A $26 million reported this year.
"the loss of investment fraud is alarming," ACCC Vice Chairman Delia Rickard said on Monday. Every week ACCC receives heartbreaking news that hundreds of thousands, some millions, have been lost. "
She said the scams were complicated and the swindlers were persuasive.
Those between the ages of 45 and 64 were at the greatest risk, accounting for half of those who reported losses to the Scamwatch.
The vast majority of investment scams are still concentrated in traditional investment markets, such as stocks, real estate or commodities. A fraudster, for example, would claim to be a stockbroker or portfolio manager and would provide "hot tips" or internal information about stocks or assets, saying that the value of those stocks or assets would soar. They will claim that they offer low-risk investments and will provide quick and high returns.
Swindlers spend a lot of time and energy training their victims to invest. They will use the right technical language and provide professional websites and documents to convince victims that they are legal. "usually it`s only when people try to cash in on their investments that they realize that their money is gone," Ms. Rickard said.
The other two types of popular investment scams are about encrypted currency trading and binary options. Crypto-currency trading fraud, which has grown significantly over the past 12 months, is now the second most common investment scam.
"the trend of popularity in encrypted currency transactions has been seized on by fraudsters. This is similar to any other investment fraud: swindlers will claim to have internal information about price changes that can be used to make you rich. "if you invest, your money will soon disappear," Ms. Rikard said.
"dual option trading involves fraudsters pretending that they can predict changes in the prices of goods, assets or indices over a short period of time. They will guide you to websites that contain login information, account details, and trading platforms. They appear to have deposited your money into your account and demonstrated some successful transactions, encouraging you to invest more money. Then your money begins to disappear, and the swindler disappears. "
One of the most obvious warning signs of whether or not you are trading with swindlers is how they contacted you and the promises they made.
"it is hard to tell what is legal and what is illegal. If someone inexplicably calls, emailed or texted you for investment advice, please don`t communicate with them, no matter how legal they sound. Hang up the phone, or delete e-mail or text. If you`re looking for new investment opportunities online, don`t always believe what you`re reading. Ms. Rickard says it`s easy for swindlers to create seemingly professional investment sites.
"anything like `risk-free`, `low-risk, high-return`, `millionaire within three years`, or `get rich quickly` can also tell you clearly that you are dealing with swindlers."
If you are keen on investing, please visit the Australian Securities and Investment Commission`s MoneySmart website at (ASIC). It explains the steps to be taken before investing and how to avoid fraudsters. Before investing, be sure to check ASIC`s list of companies that should not deal with. You can report investment scams to ASIC or Scamwatch.
