The Young Australian's Guide to Scams & Online Safety

The most dangerous misconception about scams is that they only catch naive, elderly or uneducated people. They don't. Scams catch doctors, lawyers, engineers, and people who consider themselves highly sceptical. Understanding why requires understanding that scams are not about fooling stupid people — they're about exploiting psychological triggers that are hardwired into every human brain.

There are six psychological triggers that almost every scam uses, in some combination:

• Urgency — "Act now or lose access." "This offer expires in 24 hours." Urgency suppresses critical thinking. When time pressure is high, we stop evaluating and start reacting.
• Authority — "This is the ATO." "I'm calling from your bank's fraud team." Humans are conditioned to comply with authority figures. Scammers impersonate police, government agencies, banks, and tech companies.
• Fear — "Your account has been compromised." "There's a warrant out for your arrest." Fear activates the amygdala and shuts down rational evaluation. Scammers deliberately provoke fear to bypass logical thinking.
• Greed — "You've been selected for a 40% return investment." "You've won a prize." The prospect of gain makes people willing to overlook red flags they'd normally catch.
• Reciprocity — Scammers offer something first — information, help, a small gift — to create a sense of obligation that makes refusal feel awkward.
• Social proof — "Thousands of Australians are already invested." "Your colleague recommended us." We look to others' behaviour to guide our own, especially in unfamiliar situations.

Investment scams are the most financially devastating category — the average loss per victim in Australia exceeds $20,000, and losses of $100,000–$500,000 are not uncommon. They're also among the most sophisticated, often involving weeks or months of relationship-building before any money is requested.

Pig butchering scams (also called crypto romance scams or SHA Zhu Pan) are currently the dominant investment scam format in Australia. The structure is consistent: you receive a message from an unknown number — often framed as a "wrong number" — and the scammer gradually builds a warm, friendly relationship over days or weeks. Eventually they introduce the topic of investment, often through a fake but convincing trading platform they control. Initial small investments appear to grow dramatically. You invest more. When you try to withdraw, there are "fees" to pay. When you pay the fees, there are more fees. Eventually you can't get any money out, the platform disappears, and the contact goes silent.

Key characteristics of investment scams:

• Platforms you can't verify: Legitimate investments are on regulated platforms registered with ASIC. Any investment platform not listed on ASIC's register (asic.gov.au) is unregistered and almost certainly a scam.
• Guaranteed or unusually high returns: No legitimate investment guarantees returns. High returns always come with high risk — anyone promising otherwise is lying.
• Pressure to invest more: "Don't miss this window." "The return is expiring." "You need to upgrade your account to withdraw."
• Request for cryptocurrency: Legitimate investment platforms accept bank transfers. A request to fund via crypto is a near-universal scam indicator.