The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) removed more than 19,400 online scams in fiscal 2026, up 182% year over year, the regulator said Monday. It warned that generative AI lets criminals build linked fake endorsements, websites and reviews that make fraudulent investment offers look legitimate.
Scammers are reusing Australian financial services license details and impersonating legitimate businesses. That exposes brokers and investment platforms to copied brands while making a basic web search less useful to clients trying to check an offer.
Scammers build their own search results
The schemes can start with an advertisement on a well-known platform. A click takes the target to a fabricated news story containing a celebrity endorsement and fake public comments, according to ASIC.
Criminals create a scam brand, repeat distinctive phrases and fill search results with supportive articles, positive reviews and related websites. Each item appears independent, but the same network controls it.
"AI is making investment scams more convincing and harder to detect," ASIC Chairwoman Sarah Court said.
After a target submits contact details, callers follow a script and direct the person to a fake investment platform. Some victims receive a small payment shown as profit before the scammers seek larger transfers. The underlying investment may not exist.
ASIC said Scamwatch reports linked the most impersonated public figures to A$7.4 million (about $5.2 million) in reported losses during FY26. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, market commentators Tom Piotrowski and Alan Kohler, and politicians Jacqui Lambie and Angus Taylor were among the names used.
Phishing links and fake platforms drive the increase
ASIC removed 5,476 phishing links in FY26, a 279% increase from the previous year. It also took down 7,051 fake investment platforms, up 151% year over year, and 3,106 cryptocurrency investment scams, up almost 30%.
The regulator removed 6,915 websites, social media advertisements, phishing links and crypto investment scams in FY25. Those figures are not directly comparable with FY26 because ASIC has also published totals for calendar-year windows.
ASIC cited A$2.18 billion of total reported Australian scam losses in 2025. Investment scams accounted for A$837.7 million of that amount, which covers a much wider set of cases than the FY26 celebrity impersonation figure.
An Australian financial services license number alone is not proof that the promoter owns it. ASIC said criminals may claim another entity's number or copy the identity of a licensed financial services business.
Why this matters for finance professionals
Clients will increasingly ask about offers they found online, and a quick search may not reveal the truth. The practical takeaway: verify any investment business through records you reach independently, not through links or reviews that appear in the same search results as the offer itself.
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