Scammers are fleecing consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars each month by preying on a lack of understanding about the National Broadband Network.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today revealed losses from broadband-related scams have already overtaken the total losses seen last year and are running at three times the number of successful scams in 2018.

NBN scammers are successfully targeting older customers in particular. Credit:Michele Mossop

One of the most common schemes involves calling a consumer and impersonating NBN Co or an internet service provider and gaining remote access to their computer to help solve a broadband issue. The scammers then can steal personal information including banking details.

Losses so far this year have topped $500,000, with an average of $110,000 lost each month between January and May.