Member for Robertson Gordon Reid is set to hold a second forum in April as the Federal Government acts to protect Australians from scams and economic crime.
“Every day, scammers are ripping money out the pockets of hard-working Australians,” Reid said.
“The Government is fighting back.
“If an offer seems too good to be true or suspicious, it probably is.
“In April, I look forward to hosting another anti-scams forum which will be located in Woy Woy, and open to anyone interested in arming themselves with knowledge to combat scammers.”
Reid held the first Robertson Anti Scams forum at Davistown RSL in 2023.
The Assistant Treasurer recently released a new report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) showing the Government’s plan to crack down on scammers is working.
This will be welcome news for the people of the Central Coast who have experienced the persistent calls, texts and social media accounts attempting to scam them out of money.
The National Anti-Scam Centre’s second quarterly report shows scam losses in October to December 2023 have almost halved compared to the same period in 2022.
Before the Federal Labor Government came to office, Australians were losing over $3B a year to scams.
Some losses had doubled and doubled again in the space of three years.
That trend has now flipped, with scam losses from October to December 2023 reduced by 43 per cent from the same quarter in 2022.
This comes after the Government implemented its election commitment to crack down on scammers by investing $86.5M in last year’s Budget, which included establishing the National Anti-Scam Centre.
This is a world leading partnership between government, law enforcement and the private sector that uses cutting edge technology to disrupt scams before they reach consumers.
The National Anti-Scam Centre also focuses on raising community awareness to help arm people with tips and tools to help protect them from scammers.
For more information, contact Reid’s office on 4322 2400 or email Gordon.Reid.MP@aph.gov.au
Scammers increase their hold on the cash of others as banks are “Allowed” to close branches, sack staff, scrap cash machines and go cashless and rake in more with account handling and transaction charges.