Corporate regulator ASIC has added to its scam suppression arsenal, announcing the full-scale launch of its scam website takedown capability following a successful 2022 trial.
The takedown facility removes or limits access to fraudulent and malicious phishing and investment scam websites identified online.
Since July 2023, ASIC said it has taken down 2,100 websites investment scam and phishing websites, with an additional 400 sites currently in the process of being taken down.
Among the scam websites disrupted include fake investment platforms, crypto-asset scam websites, and imposter scam websites where legitimate financial service businesses are being impersonated.
The takedown service expands on a three-week trial conducted by ASIC last year, with the regulator teaming with cybersecurity company Netcraft to develop the takedown capability.
ASIC’s investment scam and phishing website takedown capability is part of the government’s wider Fighting Scams initiative, designed to disrupt scams and protect Australians from financial harm.
The initiative also supports the work of the National Anti-Scams Centre (NASC), which commenced operations on 1 July 2023, and effectively serves to coordinate government, law enforcement and the private sector to combat scams.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court recognised the increasing reliance of scammers on technology to “perpetrate investment scams”.
“This includes using sophisticated websites to trick Australians into believing they are making genuine investments.
“Our website takedown service helps us identify and disrupt investment scam and phishing websites from causing further harm to Australians.”
According to the ACCC’s Scamwatch service, Australians have reported losses of more than $240 million to investment scams so far this year – by far the most of any scam category, and significantly more than losses resulting from dating ($27 million) and false billing ($24 million) scams, which came in as the second and third-biggest loss categories, respectively.
More than $22 million has also been lost to phishing scams so far this year; however, phishing was by far the most reported scam, with more than 82,000 reports received by Scamwatch, 50,000 more than the next most reported category, false billing scams.
