Social media is emerging as the new hunting ground for scammers to find victims, according to new data out today.
The consumer watchdog's annual scam report also identifies a whopping 47 % increase in all reports it receives about scams.
It identifies a "sharp increase" in scams taking place through social media sites such as Facebook.
"It can be really hard to tell who's genuine and who's fake these days," Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chairwoman Delia Rickard said.
The joint report from the ACCC and the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network shows 200,000 reports of scams last year, with losses totalling almost $300 million.
the two most common social media scams reported were dating, romance and fake trader scams.
About 30 per cent of dating and romance scam victims — 1,352 people — reported they were contacted via social media sites, in particular Facebook.
"Dating and romance scammers trick their victims into falling in love with them and then use their victim's trust to deceitfully take their money,
Dating and romance scams cost Australians $42 million in 2016, behind investment scams, which tallied the most losses to scammers at $59 million.
Fake trader scams are increasing, where victims see advertisements for online stores on social media selling discounted products made by well-known brands.
The ACCC says many of these online stores are fake and victims buy goods that do not exist.
Sextortion, an emerging scam, also uses social media to gain access to victims.
It is a form of blackmail, with compromising images of the victim used to extort money.
"We saw a large number of people who had shared intimate videos or photos with someone they'd met online, then being blackmailed and asked for large amounts of money, otherwise these people would release these very embarrassing images to all of that person's friends and family,"
