The Australian Securities & Investments Commission published an update on its online scam disruption activity and warned that artificial intelligence is making social media phishing and investment scams more convincing and harder for consumers to detect. In 2025, ASIC coordinated the removal of 11,964 phishing and investment scam websites and took down more than 1,100 online investment scam advertisements on social media. The 2025 website takedowns represent a 90% increase from the previous 12-month period (6,270), averaging 32 websites per day or 230 per week, and bringing the total knocked out since the takedown service launched in 2023 to more than 25,000. ASIC highlighted tactics including AI-generated professional videos, fake endorsements and targeted ads, as well as “cloaking” techniques that show different content depending on a user’s device or location, often paired with claims of guaranteed quick returns via AI trading bots or false assertions of ASIC certification. ASIC linked the warning to broader scam harm reported by the National Anti‑Scam Centre, with Australians losing AUD 2.18 billion to scams in 2025, including AUD 837.7 million to investment scams, and urged consumers not to share personal details or invest unless they can verify an Australian Financial Services licence. Operationally, ASIC refers suspicious investment scam websites to a third party specialising in cybercrime detection and disruption, which also proactively detects scam websites and social media ads around the clock; once malicious activity is confirmed, the takedown process involves identifying parties able to take the attack offline. ASIC also noted its participation in international cooperation aimed at building capability to respond to cross-border scam activity.

Original source View in tracker