Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows that fraud figures in Port Stephens (including scams) had risen 6.8 per cent every year since 2010.

Port Stephens police crime manager Detective Inspector George Radmore said scams were a significant contributor to the fraud statistics.

"It is by far one of the largest areas within the deception type of offences," he said.

"Fraud is one area where we are exceeding our business plan targets on."

While a worry, the statistics were not a surprise, said Detective Inspector Radmore, who added that scams were becoming an increasing problem nationally.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), more than 45,000 complaints about scams were made to it so far this year.

The ACCC also reported that $45 million was lost through scams this year.

In 2014, 91,000 complaints were made to the ACCC with $81 million lost to scammers.

Detective Inspector Radmore said scams were tough to investigate but added that if people did not report when they were scammed than crime patterns could not be established.

"Police do not ignore these type of things," he said.

"But police need to use their limited resources wisely. It takes just as much to investigate a $50 eBay fraud as it does a $5000 one.

"These things are not easy to investigate, especially overseas scams."

Detective Inspector Radmore added that anything that sounded too good to be true usually was and urged residents to be wary about dealing with anyone, especially if it was not face-to-face.

Residents can stay up to date with the latest reported scams, make complaints or else report scams to the ACCC's Scamwatch website.