Online scams awareness

According to the ACCC’s Scamwatch, scam activity is on the rise and becoming more sophisticated. In 2024, Australians reported significant financial losses as a result of scams (over $318 million) as well as loss of data.

It is vital Australians familiarise themselves with common scams and scam indicators to actively protect themselves against potentially fraudulent activity. Common signs of scams include:

• Pressure to act quickly
• An offer that sounds too good to be true
• Emails, texts or calls requesting you take an action such as clicking a link, opening an attachment, or make a payment in an unusual way (e.g. gift cards).

From time-to-time, cybercriminals will attempt to take advantage of .au domain name holders (registrants) via phishing scams. In the event of such scams, emails are sent to .au registrants by an individual posing as an auDA employee. The emails will generally request that the registrant click on a link to verify their registration or provide additional information to retain their .au domain name licence or avoid any disruption to their .au domain name service.

As is common in scams, the cybercriminals create a sense of urgency often requesting the recipient of a phishing email take action in a short timeframe. This is an attempt to pressure the recipient into making a hasty decision in the cybercriminals favour. 

If you ever receive an email of this nature purporting to be from auDA, (or suspect you may have):

• Report it to ACCC's Scamwatch
• Contact auDA to check its validity by submitting a general enquiry or calling us on 1300 732 929 (calls within Australia) or +61 3 8341 4111 (international calls)
• If you have unknowingly responded to a scam email and provided the cybercriminal with personal information, you are encouraged to make a report to your State or Territory police force and to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.