New report reveals losses from online job scams have surpassed $19 million
Job and employment scams in Australia doubled in 2025, with overall losses from online job scams surpassing $19 million.
Data from the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) revealed that incidents of job scams that were reported to the government-run platform Scamwatch showed a 102.4% surge in 2025.
Reports peaked in June 2025, before decreasing through to December, according to the report.
Online contact methods for job scams caused significant financial harm, with over $19 million reported lost to this kind of scheme.
"Three times as many people reported a financial loss where contact was online, compared to other contact methods," the report read.
Increase in reported job scams
The NASC attributed the increase in reported job scams to the establishment of the Job Scam Fusion Cell, a time-limited taskforce that concluded in May 2025 with the aim of addressing urgent scam issues.
"This may have contributed to increases in reporting," the centre said. "However, the level of reports and financial loss continuing through 2025 suggests that more work is required particularly by digital platforms to combat these scams."
The NASC also highlighted that there were increased job scam reports from young and vulnerable Australians.
According to the findings, there were nearly 1,200 scam reports from people aged 25 to 34, a 102.5% increase.
There were also higher reports from at-risk communities in Australia, such as First Nations people (76.3%), people with disability (114%), and the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities (51.4%).
The surge in job and employment scams comes in the wake of "relatively steady" volumes of reported scams in 2025.
Data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, IDCARE, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show scam report volumes hitting 481,523, slightly lower than the 484,732 in 2024.
Losses from scams also totalled $2.18 billion in 2025, a 7.8% increase from 2024.
"These outcomes underline the importance of continued action and vigilance across the three pillars of the National Anti-Scam Centre's work — prevention and disruption, community awareness, and victim support," the NASC said.
"We have slowed the growth in losses, but more connected action is required to stop these motivated and sophisticated criminals."
