AUSTRAC has warned real estate agencies to stay vigilant as scammers impersonating the regulator have begun making their moves.
With anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) in full force and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) beginning to send notices to businesses, scammers have started impersonating the agency and its staff to steal money and sensitive information.
According to the regulator, scammers have been capitalising on AUSTRAC’s growing public profile to make fraudulent approaches appear legitimate and mislead the public.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said that scammers were exploiting the trust people place in government agencies.
“These scams are designed to look credible and create enough fear or urgency that people act before they have time to question what they’re being told,” Thomas told REB.
The warning followed several incidents in which fraudsters posed as AUSTRAC representatives to obtain payments, personal details and confidential business data.
In one case, the regulator said scammers used the “investigator contact” fraud, reaching out as a known contact following a consumer complaint about lost funds.
Scammers started with a normal conversation to build trust, then claimed they had access to an “AUSTRAC investigator” and used a real staff member’s name and a fake LinkedIn-style profile.
The scammer then asked the victim to move the conversation to WhatsApp and promised to help recover their funds quickly.
“Scammers are using the names and publicly available information of real AUSTRAC staff to make the approach appear legitimate,” Thomas said.
He said the approach was a familiar scam technique, with fraudsters building trust and creating urgency before shifting conversations to private channels to solicit money or personal details.
The regulator said it does not retrieve lost investment funds for consumers or use messaging apps such to handle cases.
AUSTRAC also reported cases of scammers posing as senior officials, including the CEO, and offering to connect members of the public with the regulator’s general counsel as part of a “helpful contact” scam.
Thomas said scammers had become increasingly sophisticated in targeting individuals and businesses, using phone calls, emails, and messages that appear to come from AUSTRAC.
He said scammers used familiar details, including staff names, job titles, logos, and publicly available information, to appear credible while promising to recover lost funds, expedite processes or resolve complaints.
Thomas said that while AUSTRAC-regulated businesses may receive legitimate invoices, any unexpected request for money, personal information or urgent action should be verified through official channels before proceeding.
Recently, the regulator has started sending penalty notices to real estate, accounting, and jewellery businesses, with fines of up to $21,840 for companies and $4,368 for individuals.
He said that while scams may appear official and create a false sense of urgency to pressure victims into acting quickly, recognising legitimate AUSTRAC communications can help people avoid being deceived.
“We take payment from reporting businesses for things like levies and infringement notices, but we are never going to ask you to pay in virtual or cryptocurrencies or through social media apps, like WhatsApp or Telegram.”
According to Thomas, scammers exploit trust, fear and urgency to override people’s instincts and pressure them into acting quickly, making it crucial to verify contact before responding to avoid financial loss.
“If you receive a message claiming to be from AUSTRAC and something doesn’t feel right, stop, don’t click any links and contact us using the contact details on our website.”
He said AUSTRAC staff will never request additional payment to handle a complaint or resolve a matter, with the agency contacting businesses in advance to explain the process.
To further target scammers, AUSTRAC said it will continue working with law enforcement, regulators and industry partners to identify and disrupt scams.
“To help stop these scams, we’ve contacted the businesses we regulate to make them aware of the activity.”
“I’ve also written to all banks asking them to be alert to customers making payments because of instructions supposedly received from AUSTRAC or another government agency, and to take steps to identify and disrupt this activity,” Thomas said.
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