"With lots of other investment scams, they're actually tricking you into putting money into something that doesn't exist," Kirkland said."With these types of scams, scammers are getting you to invest in a stock that does actually exist They make a lot of money, but everybody else loses out."According to ASIC, a recent pump and dump scheme saw a share price soar to around $15.70 before plummeting to around $1.40 afterwards.Australians lost $837.7 million to investment scams in 2025, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre.You should be suspicious of any advertisement online that involves a celebrity or finance expert spruiking an investment