Top five online scams to avoid in 2025

BIG Four bank NAB has identified five online scams to look out for in 2025 as cyber criminals resort to increasingly sophisticated methods to part people with their money.

They include AI-powered scams, where deep-fakes are created to impersonate politicians and personalities to spruik an opportunity or product on social media.

Cryptocurrency investment scams involve people being encouraged to invest via fake trading apps and phony websites without there being anything to legitimately invest in.

Meanwhile, bucket list scams take advantage of big international events such as the upcoming Oasis and Metallica Australian tours to offload fake tickets.

Rounding out the fraudulent five are remote access scams, where the target is tricked into allowing access to their online banking or other personal information, and phishing, where criminals use bulk emails, texts or phone calls to target their prey.

NAB group investigations executive Chris Sheehan said there are common red flags among them all.

“Criminals create urgency to act quickly,” he said.

“It could be creating FOMO [fear of missing out] that resold concert tickets will go quickly, that’ll you miss the next big crypto investment opportunity, or that there’s a problem with your bank account and you need to move your money elsewhere.

“Another common red flag across different types is that the contact is unexpected. For example, an out-of-the-blue phone call from an ‘internet provider’ to fix your connection.”

He said once funds are sent it is very hard to recover anything, despite the bank’s best efforts.

“Criminals quickly send it to overseas accounts or to cryptocurrency platforms knowing it makes it harder to retrieve,” Mr Sheehan said.

“That’s why we need all parts of the scam ecosystem taking action to stop the crime before it happens.”

Further information, including how you can go about protecting yourself, is available on the NAB website.