The ACCC's report said the internet

The ACCC's report said the internet was responsible for 45 per cent of scams reported while 2010. Reported scams delivered online increased from 14,101 in 2009 to 19,074 in 2010.

The cost of scams to consumers

The cost of scams to consumers was as high as $4 million a pop, according to the report, with 16 per cent of consumers and businesses that reported the scams claiming to have been hit to the tune of $1 million to $4 million in the hip pocket. Nevertheless the total financial losses from cybercrime and scams were down from $70 million in 2009 to $63 million in 2010, according to the report, even though it cautioned that actual costs were likely to be higher as most scams go unreported.

"It appeared that many of these calls may have originated offshore and it's likely that they are taking advantage of cheap or free VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services."

Since late last year, reports have surfaced of phone scammers masquerading as the Queensland Police service and Microsoft to defraud users. In the latter case, would-be Microsoft technicians had claimed a victim's computer is infected by a virus and offered a paid fix.