Photo of concerned man using mobile phone

Anti-scam centre will speed up fraud response

Government departments, law-enforcement agencies, telcos, and banks will work together to stop scammers and alert their victims.

Published: 29 May 2023
  • national
  • 29 May 2023
  • National Seniors

The federal government is promising a faster response to reports of consumer fraud with the establishment of a $58 million National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC).

Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, said Australians lost more than $3 billion to scams in 2022 alone, and scam losses have increased nearly five‑fold since 2020. The average loss from a scam is around $20,000.

The NASC will be phased in from 1 July 2023, with capability, including data-sharing technology, to be built over the next three years.