Every day, scammers are ripping money out the pockets of hard-working Australians, and the Federal Labor Government is fighting back.

People across the Central Coast community have no doubt experienced the persistent calls, texts, and social media accounts attempting to scam them out of money.

The Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones MP, visited the Central Coast for a community Scams Forum.

The forum was an opportunity for people to learn ways to protect themselves from scams, know what to do if they are targeted by a scam, and hear about the steps the government is taking to crackdown on this crime.  

Before the Federal Labor Government came to office, Australians were losing over $3 billion a year to scams. Of particular concern, scam losses had doubled and doubled again in the space of 3 years.  

That trend has now flipped, and losses have significantly reduced in the first six months of the Government’s crackdown. In November 2023, scam losses decreased by over 50% compared with November 2022.  

The Federal Labor Government is implementing an ambitious anti-scam agenda to combat scams and protect Australians.

The first phase was standing up the National Anti-Scam Centre in July last year, which was part of an $86.5 million investment to fight scams and online fraud in the May Budget.

This announcement included:

• $58 million for the ACCC to establish the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC)
• $17.6 million for ASIC to bust fake investment websites that promote fake scams
• $10 million for ACMA to establish and enforce an SMS sender ID registry to stop scam texts

Phase two includes developing mandatory industry codes to impose tough new obligations on banks, telcos, and social media platforms to protect their customers from scams.

The NASC means that the people of the Central Coast can look to a trusted, centralised point within Government for information and education to protect themselves from scams.

It is more important than ever that the Central Coast community is alert to scams and are aware of how to protect themselves.

Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid MP:

“Our community and local businesses are more protected from scammers than ever before with the establishment of the National Anti-Scams Centre.”

“Every day, scammers are ripping money out the pockets of hard-working Australians. The Government is fighting back.”

“If an offer seems too good to be true or suspicious, it probably is.”

If you or anyone you know receive a suspicious call, text or email take these steps to protect yourself:

• Stop – take your time before giving money or personal information.
• Think – ask yourself if the message or call could be fake?
• Protect – act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank and report scams to Scamwatch.”

Over 150 people attended The Robertson Anti-Scams Forum in Umina Beach.

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