Australians Warned as Impostor Bond Investment Scams Rise
- Consumers being tricked after searching online for investments
- People often don’t realise they’ve been scammed for months
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Australians’ losses to impostor bond investment scams nearly tripled in the first half of the year, with consumers losing more than A$20 million ($14 million) after being duped in their hunt for higher returns.
There were 228 reports of the fraud -- which usually involves the perpetrator impersonating real financial firms or banks and claiming to offer Treasury bonds or fixed-term deposits -- between January and June, compared with 82 reports in the first half of last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement Wednesday.