Victorians still falling for online scams

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) has found that Victorians are still falling victim to internet scams, adding that a new defence is required to protect users from dating site scams. In its report "Risk factors for advance fee fraud victimisation", which surveyed 202 Victorians that had sent money to Nigeria in a scam, the AIC found that the most common way in which victims were duped out of their cash was via email. Two thirds of victims reported that their first contact with a scam came via email. It also identified dating or social networking sites as another common form of initial contact. In total, 85 per cent of scam victims had been recruited over the internet, while a small number of victims first had contact with the offenders via mail, fax or phone. In a very small number of cases, the victim was referred by someone they already knew.