- Cybersecurity Research
- Cross-National Study
- Digital Protection
New Trend Micro research reveals 67% of Australians and New Zealanders face online scams, with NZ victims at 33% vs Australia's 27%. Learn the latest scam tactics and protection strategies.
Cross-Tasman Scam Epidemic Revealed in Major Study
Comprehensive research conducted by Trend Micro has unveiled the alarming extent of online scam activity affecting both Australia and New Zealand, with two-thirds of participants in both countries reporting they have been targeted by cybercriminals. The study, encompassing 1,025 Australian and 517 New Zealand consumers aged 18 and over, provides crucial insights into the evolving threat landscape facing consumers across the Tasman region.
The research reveals significant differences in victimisation rates between the two countries, with New Zealand experiencing a higher proportion of successful scam attacks. While 27% of Australian respondents reported falling victim to online scams, New Zealand recorded a substantially higher rate of 33%, suggesting that despite geographic proximity and cultural similarities, different factors may influence scam susceptibility across these markets.
These statistics represent more than academic interest; they reflect real financial losses, emotional distress, and erosion of trust in digital services that affects millions of consumers across both nations. The pervasive nature of these threats demands immediate attention from consumers, businesses, and policymakers seeking to protect vulnerable populations from increasingly sophisticated criminal operations.
Delayed Detection and Financial Impact
One of the most concerning findings from the research involves the delayed detection of scam activities, with nearly one-third of victims in both countries only realising they had been targeted after experiencing financial losses or failing to receive goods they had paid for. This pattern demonstrates the sophisticated nature of contemporary scam operations that can maintain deception for extended periods.
The delayed discovery of victimisation creates compound problems for affected individuals and families. Beyond immediate financial losses, delayed detection prevents timely reporting to authorities, reduces the likelihood of asset recovery, and allows criminal operations to continue targeting additional victims using proven successful tactics.
Financial institutions and payment providers face significant challenges in addressing fraudulent transactions when victims remain unaware of their compromise for extended periods. The time delay between initial victimisation and discovery often exceeds standard dispute resolution timeframes, complicating efforts to reverse unauthorised transactions or prevent additional losses.
This detection delay also highlights the evolution of scam techniques from obvious fraud attempts to sophisticated operations that closely mimic legitimate business activities. Modern scammers invest considerable effort in maintaining believable facades that can withstand casual scrutiny from victims who may not immediately recognise suspicious elements.
Social Media Marketplace Exploitation
Social media platforms have emerged as primary vectors for scam operations, with promoted items on social media marketplaces and retail sites representing a significant threat category. The research shows that 25% of Australian scam victims were deceived by these apparently legitimate promotions, whilst New Zealand experienced an even higher rate of 32% victimisation through this method.
The higher victimisation rate in New Zealand through social media marketplace scams may reflect different platform usage patterns, population density factors, or varying levels of consumer awareness about these specific threat types. The seven percentage point difference suggests that targeted education campaigns could potentially reduce victimisation rates through improved recognition of suspicious marketplace activities.
These social media scams exploit the trust that consumers place in established platforms whilst leveraging sophisticated advertising mechanisms to reach targeted demographics. Scammers create convincing product listings, utilise professional photography, and employ persuasive marketing copy that can deceive even cautious consumers evaluating purchase opportunities.
The integration of scam operations within legitimate social media advertising systems creates challenges for platform operators seeking to identify and remove fraudulent content. The volume of promotional content and the sophistication of scam presentations can overwhelm automated detection systems whilst manual review processes struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving criminal tactics.
Investment and Authority Impersonation Scams
Investment-related scam communications represent another significant threat vector, affecting 19% of Australian victims and 17% of New Zealand victims through text message campaigns promoting fraudulent investment opportunities. These scams exploit legitimate interest in financial improvement whilst leveraging urgency and exclusivity to pressure rapid decision-making.
Authority impersonation scams show a notable difference between the two countries, with 18% of Australian victims receiving urgent messages from imposters posing as official organisations demanding payments or personal information, compared to 9% in New Zealand. This disparity may reflect different regulatory environments, cultural attitudes toward authority, or varying criminal targeting strategies.
The lower rate of authority impersonation scams in New Zealand could indicate more effective public awareness campaigns, different communication preferences among the population, or simply different criminal focus areas. Understanding these differences could inform targeted prevention strategies that address specific vulnerabilities in each market.
Investment scams particularly exploit economic uncertainty and the desire for financial security, making them especially effective during periods of inflation, market volatility, or employment concerns. The promise of quick returns appeals to individuals facing financial pressure whilst the apparent legitimacy of investment communications can overcome natural skepticism.
Communication Platform Manipulation Tactics
Criminal organisations demonstrate sophisticated understanding of digital communication behaviours, with 39% of users in both countries reporting requests to switch to alternative applications during online conversations. This tactic enables scammers to move interactions away from platforms with robust security features and monitoring capabilities to environments with fewer protective measures.
Contact impersonation shows concerning variations between countries, with 13% of Australian victims contacted by imposters posing as trusted acquaintances, whilst New Zealand experienced a higher rate of 18%. This difference suggests that criminal organisations may adapt their social engineering approaches based on cultural factors, social network patterns, or platform usage preferences in different markets.
Dating applications and messaging services provide additional venues for establishing false trust relationships that increase scam credibility. These platforms create environments where personal connections develop gradually, enabling scammers to build rapport and emotional investment before introducing fraudulent schemes.
The systematic exploitation of platform-switching behaviour demonstrates how criminals study and adapt to legitimate digital communication patterns. By understanding how genuine users interact across multiple platforms, scammers can create believable justifications for moving conversations to less secure environments where their activities face reduced scrutiny.
Mobile Device Security Vulnerabilities
Despite extensive daily mobile device usage, significant security gaps exist across both countries that create opportunities for criminal exploitation. Australian usage patterns show 46% of respondents using phones 1-4 hours daily, 27% for 5-8 hours, and 12% exceeding 8 hours, whilst New Zealand shows similar patterns with 45%, 30%, and 14% respectively.
The research reveals concerning security practices despite heavy reliance on mobile devices for sensitive activities. Nearly half of Australians (47%) and half of New Zealanders (50%) operate without antivirus or security software on their mobile devices, creating systematic vulnerabilities that scammers can exploit through malicious applications or compromised websites.
Banking application usage demonstrates this security paradox clearly, with 87% of Australians and 88% of New Zealanders conducting financial transactions through mobile applications. However, 61% of Australians and 62% of New Zealanders fail to employ virtual private networks for additional protection, potentially exposing sensitive financial communications to interception or manipulation.
The security software adoption gap reflects a combination of factors including overconfidence in device security, cost concerns affecting 17% of respondents in both countries, and lack of awareness about available protection options. These gaps create systematic vulnerabilities that enable successful scam operations targeting mobile device users.
Underreporting and Social Stigma
The social stigma associated with scam victimisation significantly impacts accurate assessment of the true scale of criminal activity, with embarrassment preventing many victims from reporting their experiences or seeking assistance. In Australia, whilst 88% of victims eventually share their experiences, 38% of those who remain silent cite shame as their primary motivation.
New Zealand shows even more concerning patterns, with only 81% of victims disclosing their experiences and 47% of silent victims citing embarrassment as their reason for non-disclosure. This higher rate of non-disclosure may contribute to reduced community awareness and potentially enables criminal operations to continue with less scrutiny.
The stigma surrounding scam victimisation creates multiple problems beyond individual psychological impact. Underreporting prevents accurate assessment of criminal activity levels, reduces law enforcement intelligence about emerging threats, and limits community awareness about successful scam tactics that others should avoid.
Cultural factors may influence disclosure patterns differently across the two countries, potentially reflecting varying attitudes toward financial disclosure, personal responsibility, or community support networks. Understanding these differences could inform targeted approaches to encouraging reporting and reducing stigma associated with victimisation.
Expert Analysis and Protection Recommendations
Ashley Millar, Director of Consumer Education and Marketing at Trend Micro, emphasises that scam culture has achieved mainstream status, requiring comprehensive protection strategies that acknowledge the sophisticated nature of contemporary criminal operations. His analysis highlights how technology sophistication has made scam identification increasingly challenging, even for naturally cautious consumers.
The expert recommendation encompasses both educational approaches and technological protection measures, recognising that human awareness alone proves insufficient against sophisticated criminal operations. The combination of consumer education about scam tactics with robust technological protection creates comprehensive defence strategies that address both human and technical vulnerabilities.
Educational initiatives must evolve beyond basic awareness to include recognition of sophisticated social engineering techniques, platform-specific vulnerabilities, and emerging criminal tactics that exploit technological advancement. However, education alone cannot address the full scope of contemporary threats that increasingly bypass human detection capabilities.
Technological protection measures, including antivirus software and mobile security applications, provide essential safety nets when human awareness proves insufficient. These systems can identify malicious applications, detect fraudulent websites, and prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information even when users inadvertently interact with criminal operations.