Australians fell victim to more than 10,000 online shopping scams last year

Darshana Gupta

15th Apr 2025

More than 10,000 online shopping scams were reported last year, costing over $2.5 million or on average $250 per person.

Analysis by logistics provider Pack & Send of data from Scamwatch shows a significant shift in scam patterns, with those through social media platforms becoming more popular than those through email.

Online retail scams might include websites or social media pages providing fake reviews or logos on products being sold.

People on social media marketplace websites may pretend to buy your products without seeing the item or by sending a false payment notification with an overpaid amount and then requesting a return payment for the excess value.

Pack & Send country manager Nicholas Woodward said that as a logistics provider, the company often sees firsthand how scams unfold – from fake delivery confirmations and fraudulent payment screenshots to impersonation of brands on marketplaces like Facebook and Gumtree. “This frontline perspective makes us uniquely placed to identify emerging scam trends and educate the public.”

Social media and online forums accounted for 26.8 per cent of scams, email for 23.8 per cent and general websites for 22.9 per cent.

Older Australians remained the most targeted group for online scammers, representing 15.5 per cent of reported incidents.

This demonstrated a drastic shift from older Australians being the primary demographic to fall victim to scams, to middle-aged Australian men becoming the most common group to fall victim to scams.

The data showed that NSW women aged 45 to 54 were most vulnerable, while men between 45 and 54 lost an average of $681, almost three times the national average.

This was followed by men aged 35 to 44, losing an average of $536, while men aged 55-64 lost an average of $497.

From March to April, a 142.5 per cent jump in average loss per scam was recorded, increasing from $577 to $1225.

May 2024 had the highest average loss per month at $1719, while 353 scams were reported in December, the highest volume of scams recorded in a month.

Those aged 35 to 44 were found to be most impacted by social media and internet-based scams, contributing to 13.8 per cent of all social platform scam reports.