Advanced Search

Share Coverage



Category: Consumer Protection / Fraud and Corporate Crime

Fewer West Australians becoming scam victims

Wednesday, 27 Jan 2016 11:19:00

Robert lost $300,000 in an internet dating scam. (ABC News: David Weber)

The number of West Australians falling victim to scams has dropped dramatically, new figures show.

Financial losses have almost halved, from $16.8 million in 2014 to $9.8 million last year, while the number of victims has dropped from 657 to 456 over the same period, according to the Department of Commerce.

Commerce Minister Michael Mischin said romance and relationship fraud were still the most common type of scam, with $4.9 million lost last year, but that figure represented a 55 per cent drop from 2014.

However, accommodation scams rose, primarily involving fake online advertisements that induced prospective tenants or holidaymakers to make payments to scammers.

Perth man Robert, 80, lost $300,000 after interacting with a profile of a woman named Lisa on a dating site.

"It was comparatively small amounts initially, for clothes and things like that, and then it moved on, she wanted money for her sister for university fees and then moved on from that," he said.

"Right along I had had question marks in my head about it, but I had let them go, but as time went on, particularly this year .... she was starting to ask for more and more money and getting quite demanding actually."

Robert said he stopped sending money after he received a letter from the Department of Commerce alerting him to the suspected fraud.

AustraliaPlus


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend