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More time at home means many Australians now have the opportunity to re-assess their lifestyle and spending habits and set some serious saving goals. So how can you actually go about it?

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In this episode of The nestegg Podcast, host Grace Ormsby is joined by Melbourne-based Reventon’s Billie Christofi to talk all things finance and the impact of isolation on our hip pockets.

In stage 4 lockdown, Billie shares the importance of going back to basics when it comes to budgeting, methods to re-assess spending habits, and some of the less conventional ways people can boost their wealth at this time.

Thanks Billie, for sharing your insights with the nestegg podcast team!

Have an investment story to share? Get in touch at [email protected] and you might get featured on an upcoming episode!

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Learn the best strategies in investing and options like cryptocurrency, bonds, mutual funds, property and stock market." ["secure"]=> int(0) ["page_description"]=> string(7) "nestegg" ["page_rights"]=> NULL ["robots"]=> NULL ["page_heading"]=> string(71) "Invest Money - Strategies and Tools for your Investment Goals | nestegg" ["access-view"]=> bool(true) } ["initialized":protected]=> bool(true) ["separator"]=> string(1) "." } ["displayDate"]=> string(19) "2020-09-02 02:50:12" ["slug"]=> string(43) "15670:capitalising-on-the-covid-19-pandemic" ["catslug"]=> string(11) "302:podcast" ["link"]=> string(56) "/resources/podcast/capitalising-on-the-covid-19-pandemic" ["image"]=> string(43) "images/podcasts/Billie_Christofi_WEB_ne.jpg" ["image_alt"]=> string(0) "" } }

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‘The losses are horrific’: Investment scammers double profits

By Lucy Dean

July 23 2018
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Invest

‘The losses are horrific’: Investment scammers double profits

By Lucy Dean
July 23 2018

It’s only July, but Australians have already lost nearly as much to investment scams as they did in the entirety of 2017, and the consumer watchdog is alarmed.

‘The losses are horrific’: Investment scammers double profits

By Lucy Dean

July 23 2018
Share

It’s only July, but Australians have already lost nearly as much to investment scams as they did in the entirety of 2017, and the consumer watchdog is alarmed.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed this week that Australians are losing $4.3 million a month to sophisticated scams, with scammers taking advantage of investment trends like cryptocurrency to groom and devastate victims. That's a 117 per cent month-on-month increase compared with last year.

With $26.4 million already lost in 2018, scammers are only 14 per cent behind last year's total of $31.3 million as of the end of June.

“The losses to investment scams are horrific. Each week the ACCC receives heartbreaking accounts of people losing hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

"Last year, Australians reported they lost $64.6 million to investment scams to Scamwatch and the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN). If the current trend continues, combined losses reported to Scamwatch and ACORN in 2018 could be in excess of $100 million."

She said Australians between 45 and 64 are most at risk, making up more than half the reports.

Most investment scams are centred on traditional investments like stocks or real estate with scammers cold calling victims to offer a hot tip, while posing as a stock broker.

However, cryptocurrency trading and binary options are also fertile ground for scammers, with cryptocurrency scammers now the second-most common type.

“Scammers will spend significant time and effort grooming their victims to invest. They will use the right technical language and also offer professional looking websites and documents to convince victims they are legitimate. It’s often only when people try to cash out their investment that they realise their money is gone,” Ms Rickard warned.

“The rise in popularity in cryptocurrency trading has not been missed by scammers who are latching onto this new trend to con people.

“These are similar to any other investment scam: the scammer will claim to have inside knowledge about price movements they will use to make you a fortune. If you invest, your money will quickly disappear.”

She said investors should be alert to “advice” offered out of the blue and should hang up or delete the email or text.

Additionally, internet literacy is important.

“If you’re searching for new investment opportunities online, don’t always trust what you read. It’s easy for scammers to create professional looking investment websites,” Ms Rickard said.

“Any claims like 'risk-free investment', ‘low risk, high return’, 'be a millionaire in three years', or 'get-rich quick' are also easy tells that you’re dealing with a scammer.”

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