West Aussies have lost $30 million to celebrity and cryptocurrency scams since 2024
Imagine that all your retirement and life savings have disappeared in a day due to a convincing video from social media.
The Western Australians are increasingly deceiving by the famous and crypto cons, which causes millions of dollars to be stolen.
New research by WA Scamnet revealed that approximately 50 WA residents sacrificed investment fraud in 2025, which led to $ 10.8 million.
Only in 2024, 76 WA victims reported to their scammers and plans that they were over $ 19.4 million.
A victim reportedly lost an amazing $ 10 million after being withdrawn by a “Deep Hanging” online Famous Approval video.
Deepforkes is often realistic imitations of real people created by artificial intelligence.
Catriona Lowe, Vice President of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said WA victims are just one of the many Australia falling for fraud.
“We know a man who lost $ 80,000 after seeing a deep gospel Elon Musk video interview on social media, clicking the link and recording his details from an online form, Low said Lowe said.
The famous deep cheese fraud exploded globally with the rise of AI, and in January, a French woman announced that she lost $ 1.3 million to the “actor Brad Pitt – – a fraudulent using deep cheese images.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake said that scammers have become better in using famous images to deceive vulnerable individuals.
“It is a deliberate tactic to use famous images in deeper merger videos to confirm their investment plans, to produce legitimacy by scammers and to convince the victims with their quick promises.”
“To deposit more money to access your funds, to refer to taxes or other fees, is a large red flag of an investment deception, so if you do not invest any more, the pressure tactics of your account will be frozen.”
Another investment fraud that caused distress in 2024 and 2025, fake crypto currency trade, victims thought that he invested in “low -risk, high return” programs.
WA SCAMNET observed an increase in fraudsters leaking to legitimate platforms to sell “mysterious coins olan that emptied the wallets of the fraudulent crypto currency coins or legitimate currencies.
“Crypto scammers are developing on market complexity using crypto scammers, using confusion and fake ‘internal information’ to deceive you, B Blake said.
“They call their victims regularly, while proposing to establish trade profiles to access the devices, they deliver their retirement to invest.”
Consumer guards call on Aussies, who are interested in the crypto currency, to do comprehensive research, to read websites critically and to suspect the promises that are too good to be real.
Ms. Blake warned that people who have previously been victims of frauds have a higher risk of returning to a second initiative.
“After a victim of an investment deception, many of them are called ‘rescue experts’ again and claim that they can get lost funds,” he said.
“These follow -up scammers hunt hope and helplessness and cause even more losses.”
He can learn more about scammers and where to report them. WA SCAMNET website.
