WA ScamNet is offering members of the Western Australian community a FREE online presentation and Q&A session about scam prevention.

Consumer Protection partners with IDCARE WA roadshow on scams, cybercrime and identity theft

Current and former Optus customers affected by the data breach are being urged by Consumer Protection to be vigilant over the coming weeks for scams and misuse of their identity.  Follow our checklist to help protect yourself. 

Investment scams mostly involving cryptocurrencies are driving a surge in losses reported by WA victims to record levels in 2022.

Read about the latest scams warnings issued by WA Consumer Protection.

A new scams awareness initiative has been launced called ‘Too good to be true’. It works with Indigenous communities on ways to identify and avoid scammers. The project is aimed at engaging, educating and empowering Indigenous consumers to stay one step ahead of scammers.

 Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard says scammers are putting extra effort into targeting those in need of work or extra cash.

WA tenants have lost money after being duped into paying for end of tenancy bond cleaning on their rental properties, but the cleaners didn’t turn up.

WA residents are being warned not to fall for a fake scratchie scam contained in glossy travel brochures sent from Malaysia.

A total of 456 victims reported losing $9.8 million to scams in 2015, compared to 657 victims losing $16.8 million in 2014, a 42 per cent decrease in losses.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are feared to have been lost by Australians who it’s believed have been duped by a bogus investment company operating a fake website.

Scammers attempts to fraudulently buy properties have been twarted by an astute Perth Real Estate agent.  WA ScamNet offers tips on how to help identify this kind of fraudulent activity.

164 victims of romance fraud reported losing almost $11 million, an average loss of $66,000 per victim, in the past 12 months (2014).

The largest seizure of scam mail in Western Australian history will be destroyed today after being intercepted in a joint operation between Consumer Protection and Australia Post.

Project Sunbird is a joint anti-fraud initiative between WA Police Major Fraud Squad and Consumer Protection, looking at money being sent from Western Australia to African countries such as Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo.

When the financial intelligence data is analysed, non-fraudulent money transfers e.g. for business reasons or by Africans in WA to relatives back home, are eliminated. Those left are identified as possible fraud victims and regrettably, the majority of the time it’s people in fake relationships with someone they met on the internet and have never seen face-to-face.

The Major Fraud Squad (MFS) of the WA Police and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have signed a memorandum of understanding that will underpin greater collaboration between the two investigation agencies.

A Wundowie consumer has reported a home entertainment system he had bought from back of van conmen began to catch fire in his home, sparking a warning from Consumer Protection.

WA businesses are being targeted by advertising and invoice scams, prompting a joint warning from Consumer Protection and the Small Business Development Corporation.

WA ScamNet has received reports from 24 scam victims in just one week (4-9 August) who have reported a total of $2 million in losses.

A man has been arrested in Nigeria in connection with the attempted fraudulent sale of a home in Western Australia.

 A Kalgoorlie man who has lost more than $20,000 in two separate romance frauds is sharing his story with the community in a bid to stop others being scammed.

Project Sunbird Media Statement: More than twenty suspected fraud victims in Kalgoorlie Boulder are due to receive an intervention visit as part of Project Sunbird – a joint anti-fraud initiative between WA Police Major Fraud Squad and Consumer Protection.

A 70-year-old West Australian man, caught up in a romance fraud, has been prevented from travelling to West Africa to meet organised criminals who could have kidnapped or killed him.

Almost one million dollars in investment fraud losses were reported to WA ScamNet in the last month – a higher amount than was reported for the whole of last year ($198,600).

Three WA businesses have lost a total of $20,000 from a fake invoice sting, prompting an urgent warning from Consumer Protection.

A record haul of scam mail bound for Australian homes has been intercepted by a joint operation between Consumer Protection and Australia Post in Western Australia.

Almost 30,000 scam letters bound for WA homes have been intercepted by Consumer Protection. The seized mail promoting about 30 different scams will be destroyed and can be divided into four categorie