![\"Indigo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/19137bf577d2fe65854089333bffb4208321ebc0b0d9a19eddcd3a3e37aaf3e1.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Western Australians are being warned not to believe everything they see or hear \u2013 or their money could be at risk.<\/p>\n New figures show 773 people across the state were scammed in 2025 and lost a whopping $24 million.<\/p>\n Commerce Minister Tony Buti said the WA ScamNet Year in Review report revealed the number of people being scammed dropped from the previous year, but AI continued to be a problem.<\/p>\n \u201c[The report is] sobering reading. Unfortunately, AI is becoming a real problem, and AI is becoming more sophisticated and people can generate what can be considered to be very convincing stories and convincing individuals, and they\u2019re not who they say they are,\u201d Buti said.<\/p>\n The report showed that 27 per cent of reported scams involved phishing \u2013 where scammers impersonate trusted brands, government agencies or banks to steal personal data via text, email or calls.<\/p>\n All up, phishing and hacking scams tallied a loss of $2.1 million, dating and romance scams cost victims $3.8 million and fake charities a total of $2 million.<\/p>\n The scam that saw the highest revenue loss was investment scams, which saw people hand over $13.7 million.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence-related scams resulted in $257,819 stolen from 20 victims in 2025 and $93,000 so far in 2026.<\/p>\n Jindalee woman Leah Lewis lost $4540 after scammers pretended to be someone from her bank\u2019s fraud department.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a notification come through from my bank saying $540 was spent at EasyJet. I looked at my husband and asked \u2018Did you just buy a flight?\u2019 and he said no, so I called Commbank, and it was a scam,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey gave us our money back and everything was really good and then around 10 days later I had a phone call because I had a new card sent out in that time, and they said they were from Commbank, and they were looking out to see if I had just spent $300 in Darwin.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t, so I said no. They then asked if I knew anyone by the name of Eugene \u2026 and I said no \u2026 and they said \u2018Someone is trying to set up a direct debit for lots of different amounts. I need you to recite your card that we\u2019ve just sent out to make sure that we can protect your money.\u201d<\/p>\n The mother of six said she gave the callers her card details because she believed they were from Commbank, but in hindsight, it was the wrong move.<\/p>\n \u201cNow [I know] it\u2019s so silly, but stupidly I recited my card details to them, and they said they were going to protect my money,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n![\"Perth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9787594c4c2d15e9c0e65777c059d9db35960973f380e10950a094a6a1bf96a0.png\")
Perth resident and mother of six, Leah Lewis, was scammed out of $4540 in 2025.9 News Perth<\/p>\n
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