Scammers are targeting Australians with advertisements for ‘free’ tai chi classes to trick them into downloading malware capable of stealing money off their devices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a nationwide scam alert after dozens of people reported losing thousands of dollars over the past few months.

The ACCC said scammers were advertising ‘free’ tai chi classes on fake social media pages where people received a call or message after joining, telling them to download an application to register for the sessions.

But once the app was downloaded from a website, malware was immediately installed onto their device, which allowed scammers to access and steal their money.

There were also reports of scammers advertising fraudulent classes for other types of activities, including dancing, walking and hiking.

Pensioner Heather Janine said she was caught up in the scam after she contacted a group called ‘Aussie Tai Chi Community’ through a sponsored post on Facebook.

Ms Janine said she then received a call from a woman who identified herself as Ivy Lunar who “pressured” her to download an app to view the timetable for local classes.

The Adelaide-based woman said within minutes more than $5,000 had been wiped off all her bank accounts.

“It was dreadful, my phone was essentially cloned somehow for them to get access to my accounts, it was just terrible.”

Scams becoming ‘increasingly sophisticated’

Commander of the NSW Police Cyber Crime Squad, Detective Superintendent Matt Craft, told the ABC scams like these were becoming “increasingly sophisticated”.

“That [malware] then places that particular victim at extreme risk of losing not only their personal identification, their name, their date of birth but also banking credentials,” Superintended Craft said.

“Whilst it’s tai chi scams today, it could be parenting classes tomorrow, it could be a mechanical chat group.

National Anti-Scam Centre general manager Jayde Richmond said Scamwatch had received an uptick of reports about this type of scam, with people reporting losses of $5,000 on average.

“That’s well above what we would see in average loses for these types of scams, so once they get access it can be particularly damaging,” Ms Richmond said.

“Part of this strategy is really targeting the types of activities that some of our older Australians might be interested in.”

Ms Richmond warned scammers could be anywhere and advised people that if it seemed too good to be true, it probably was.

“The victims are going to find it incredibly difficult to think there’s anything unusual about it,” she said.

“If you do happen to have downloaded that link or given any personal information, take quick steps to protect yourself, contact your bank to secure your accounts and report the scam to Scamwatch.”