Scams impersonating ASIC
Scammers are targeting consumers and businesses, pretending to be ASIC. Be alert to scams impersonating ASIC.
Key points:
- Scammers may pretend to be ASIC, requesting fees or personal information or claiming to hold money or digital assets in your name.
- ASIC will always email you from an email address ending in @asic.gov.au, and you can verify a call is from ASIC by ringing ASIC’s Customer Contact Centre on 1300 300 630.
- Scammers may impersonate ASIC’s websites –access our websites via an independent search or trusted source, do not click on hyperlinks and check the URL you are interacting with is one of our genuine websites.
- If you receive a suspicious communication claiming to be ASIC, do not click the link, hang up the call and notify ASIC – Stop. Check. Protect.
Stay up-to-date on ASIC impersonation scams
Collated below are alerts about ASIC impersonation scams. You can also check ASIC’s Newsroom regularly for the latest warnings.
Fake ASIC communication
Scammers pretending to be from ASIC may contact you via email, text message, phone or social media and ask you to pay fees and/or to give personal information to renew your business or company name. They may use the ASIC logo or the name of an ASIC employee to pretend the contact is genuine.
ASIC does not:
- request payment to recover or release funds, goods or services stolen by scammers.
- ask you to transfer money between accounts.
- ask you over the phone for credit card/banking details or to make a payment.
- require or accept payments in digital or crypto assets (including stablecoins).
- cold call you about a particular investment or a refund on an investment.
- endorse or promote a particular investment or training platform.
- initiate a chat with you on social media.
- contact you via third-party email services or private messaging services.
- ask you for a password or one-time security pin.
- rush, pressure or threaten you into communicating with us.
Messages impersonating ASIC often have a link that provides an invoice with fake payment details or infects your computer with malware. The link may also lead to a fake ASIC website.
Fake ASIC websites
ASIC has been made aware that scammers are impersonating its websites, including Moneysmart (news item), ASIC Connect and asic.gov.au (news item), to deceive consumers into disclosing personal information, passwords and payment information. These imposter websites can be very convincing, with information and links copied from our actual websites.
Do not trust hyperlinks or social media ads claiming to link to ASIC’s websites. Always access our websites via trusted sources or from an independent search.
Recovery scams
Scammers may also impersonate ASIC requesting payments to release funds, or claiming they can help scam victims recover stolen money. Offers such as these are recovery scams.
ASIC is not involved in the creation of bank or investment accounts and does not collect payments to enable the release of funds or assets.
Stop: If unsure, do not click the link
How to spot a fake ASIC email
Example of a scam ASIC email
An email is probably a scam if it asks you to:
- make a payment over the phone
- make a payment to receive a refund or release funds or assets
- provide your credit card or bank details directly by email or phone
- pay fees that are different to the fees on our website.
Example of genuine ASIC email
- ASIC will always email you from an email address ending in @asic.gov.au.
- Business name notifications specifically will come from ASIC.Transaction.No-reply@asic.gov.au.
- ASIC sends renewal notices via email only.
- ASIC issues renewal notices 30 days before your renewal date.
Misuse of ASIC’s logo
ASIC’s logo has also been misused on websites and social media to promote fake investments and stock market trading courses. ASIC does not endorse or promote any investment training or platforms. ASIC will not approve the use of its logo where the logo may be seen as an endorsement for a product or service that ASIC is not involved in. For more information on the use of ASIC's logo please go to: Copyright and linking to our websites.
ASIC’s genuine social media accounts
ASIC maintains a number of social media accounts through which we share updates and information.
| @moneysmartau | |
| ASIC | |
| YouTube | ASICmedia |
Scammers are known to add comments on official government posts offering unlicensed advice or promoting links to scam websites. ASIC may use our official social media accounts to respond to comments but we will never initiate a direct message with you or ask you to chat with us on social media or via a private messaging service.
ASIC’s genuine websites
Check the URL that appears in the address bar of your internet browser to make sure you are interacting with ASIC’s genuine websites, all which end in .gov.au. ASIC’s genuine URLs are:
- https://www.asic.gov.au/, including subdomains such as:
- https://moneysmart.gov.au/
If you see a different social media account or website claiming to be ASIC, it’s probably a scam.
Check: Verify contact from ASIC is legitimate
ASIC will always send email communication from an address ending in @asic.gov.au.
If you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from ASIC, you can confirm you are dealing legitimately with ASIC by ending the call and calling ASIC’s Customer Contact Centre on the number listed on our Contact us webpage. If asked, an ASIC employee that is speaking to you on the phone will provide you with an email from their @asic.gov.au email address to confirm the legitimacy of the contact.
We will not contact you using third-party email services such as Gmail, Hotmail or Outlook.com, or private messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram.
Contact from third parties to renew your business name
Third parties may advertise on social media or contact you with unsolicited correspondence that appears to be an invoice, offering to renew your business name on your behalf. You should carefully check such correspondence for any fees being charged over and beyond the renewal fees charged by us. You can always renew a business name registration directly with ASIC. Search for your business name to check your registration renewal date.
When we may contact you
ASIC may contact you if we think you can help in an investigation and may ask for personal details, including contact details. If you are concerned about this contact, follow the process above to verify it is really us – ASIC staff won’t mind waiting for you to confirm the contact is legitimate.
If you have received a suspicious communication purporting to be from ASIC, do not take any action until you are sure the communication is legitimate. You can report a potential ASIC impersonation scam by:
- sending us an online inquiry with details and/or an attachment of the suspicious communication
- deleting the suspicious communication.
Our team will review your online inquiry and will reach out to you if we need further information.
Alternatively, you can call ASIC’s Customer Contact Centre on 1300 300 630 for verification if you are unsure whether you have received the communication from ASIC.
If you think you’ve been targeted by scammers, act quickly. For steps to take and where to report a scam, see what to do if you've been scammed on Moneysmart or what to do if your business has been scammed.
Other government resources
Other government agencies and regulators provide anti-scam resources relating to their jurisdiction. These include:
- National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC): National Anti-Scam Centre
- Scamwatch: Scamwatch
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC): Scams
- Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC): Protect yourself from scams
- Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA): Scams, spam and telemarketing
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO): Scams, cyber safety and identity protection
- Services Australia: Scams and identity theft
- myGov: myGov scams
- eSafety Commissioner: Online scams.