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In 2022, hundreds of Australians lost money due to online scammers posing as Australian businesses.
An apparent international group of operators has targeted Australians, taking advantage of the current state of affairs in which there is a shortage of resources and an increase in demand from people looking to downsize or relocate to rural areas as a result of COVID-19.
These individuals have begun an attempt to take advantage of the market conditions by providing solutions for building compact homes, commonly known as tiny homes.
Kim Ellison and her husband were among the unfortunate individuals that this fraudulent scheme took advantage of.
Ellison proceeded to pay the $4,500 invoice after receiving one from the business and patiently awaited the arrival of the shipping container, but the container never arrived.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reports that shipping container scams have increased rapidly. There were 499 reported incidents in 2022 alone, resulting in consumer losses of up to $1.8 million, representing a significant increase from losses of $782,000 the year prior, possibly due to the global shipping container shortage.
“That is more than a doubling of the scam reports [and] we have more than a doubling of losses,” Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC, stated.
Businesses like Magellan Logistics and ABC Shipping are affected due to scammers having created numerous Facebook pages in their name that advertise the sale of shipping containers.
Ms Cass-Gottelieb further stated that an immediate need for change is necessary and used Magellan Logistics as an example.
For now, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) cannot order Facebook and other digital platforms to remove fraudulent content but has called on the government to act by imposing new rules on social media platforms.
These include stricter procedures to verify business identities, the requirement that scam-related content and accounts be deleted, and improved reporting processes for scams.
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