Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Wednesday it removed 11,964 phishing and investment scam websites in 2025, a 90% increase from the 6,270 taken down in the prior 12-month period.
The regulator also removed more than 1,100 online investment scam advertisements from social media platforms during the year. More than 25,000 scam and phishing sites have been knocked out since ASIC launched its takedown service in 2023.
ASIC said scammers are using AI to produce polished fake investment ads, generate professional-looking videos with fake endorsements and build targeted campaigns designed to capture personal details. One tactic the regulator flagged is ‘cloaking,’ where scammers display different content depending on a user’s device or location, allowing them to hide rule-breaking material from platform moderators while keeping it visible to targets.
“Scammers are using artificial intelligence to make fake investment ads look more polished, more convincing and harder to spot,” said Alan Kirkland, ASIC Commissioner. “We’re seeing AI being used to create professional videos, fake endorsements and targeted ads designed to lure people into handing over their details.”
Australians lost $2.18 billion to scams in 2025, with investment scams alone accounting for $837.7 million, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s latest Targeting Scams report. Edith Cowan University cybersecurity researcher Paul Haskell-Dowland told ABC News that scammers can now “spin up a website, 10 websites, 100 websites, almost unlimited numbers, pretty much at the flick of a switch.”
The scam funnel starts on social platforms, uses AI-generated creative and lead capture, and ends with personal data or funds going offshore. This requires regulated firms to monitor brand impersonation, paid traffic sources, and partner activity.
ASIC listed “Advanced technology harming consumers (including agentic AI)” as one of its key issues for 2026, and the Scams Prevention Framework Act passed in February 2025 is expected to bring banking, telecommunications and digital platform sectors into formal designation under the national anti-scam regime.
