According to the latest Small Business in Focus report, businesses were mostly concerned about false and misleading conduct, their obligations to consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic and consumer guarantees.
In fact, Covid-19 related issues affecting small businesses saw the number of enquiries to the ACCC in the first half of this year increase by 42 per cent, compared to the previous six months.
“The impact of the pandemic on small businesses has been enormous and we have re-prioritised our work and resources to help businesses and consumers work through many of the issues,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh says.
“Operating a small business is challenging enough in the good times and given the current crisis that so many businesses are facing, it’s important they can easily access information about their protections and obligations under the Australian Consumer Law.”
In total, more than 3,000 small businesses contacted the ACCC between January and June 2020. Around two-thirds of those businesses were reporting potential misconduct, and one-third were enquiring about their business rights and obligations.
Small businesses reported 1,200 scams with $4.5 million in losses in the first half of this year. While this is fewer reports than in the previous six-month period, it is a more than threefold increase in losses.
“When people think of scam victims they imagine vulnerable consumers, but scammers target small businesses too and they are re-inventing old payment scams with Covid-19 themes,” Keogh says.
