Reporting a scam in Australia
First hour, in order
- Call your bank. Call your bank immediately using the number on your card or in your banking app.
- Stop paying. No fee, tax or "release payment" ever unlocks money that does not exist.
- Screenshot everything before you delete an app, block a number or close an account.
- Then report using the routes below. Reporting is slower than the bank call, and less urgent, but it is what produces enforcement.
Australia has several reporting bodies and the National Anti-Scam Centre now stitches their data together. Scamwatch is the general route; ReportCyber is the one to use when money has actually gone; IDCARE gives you a human case manager.
Where to report
Scamwatch (National Anti-Scam Centre)
Also worth using
If your identity was used
IDCARE is the route for identity misuse: new accounts opened in your name, credit taken out, documents copied.
What not to do
- Do not pay anyone to recover your money. No legitimate service charges an up-front fee to get stolen funds back, and people who have just been scammed are the primary market for recovery scams.
- Do not use contact details the scammer gave you, not the phone number, not the "support" chat, not a link in a message. Look the agency up yourself.
- Do not delete the evidence. Apps, chats, wallet addresses and transaction IDs are what make a report actionable.
- Do not send one more payment. This is where most of the largest losses happen.
Sources
- Report a scam. National Anti-Scam Centre (ACCC). Accessed 2026-09-06.
- Report a cybercrime. Australian Signals Directorate. Accessed 2026-09-06.