Online shoppers hit by increase in scams

More than 2000 reports of online scamming were received by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2009, a 16% increase over the previous year.

The ACCC said scammers took a total of $70 million from Australians last year with online shoppers being particularly hard hit.

ACCC deputy chairperson Peter Kell said scams continue to make up a large proportion of total complaints to the ACCC.

"Realistically, this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg – given people can be embarrassed about reporting that they have fallen victim to scams and lost money in the process," he said.

Kell said complaints about online shopping are on the rise. "The ACCC recorded an increase of over 100% in reports about online shopping scams during 2009, compared to 2008."

Reports of false billing scams and banking and online scams were also on the rise, up nearly 60% and 40%.