The chief executive of AUSTRAC, the federal agency responsible for tracing financial crimes, Paul Jevtovic, told a conference of Certified Fraud Examiners on Thursday that Australia's relative prosperity had made us an increasing target for financial crime.

"The fight against fraud in all its manifestations is becoming a real challenge for us," Mr Jevtovic said.

Serious financial crimes, including revenue fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft and cyber crime were now costing the Australian community $8.6 billion a year.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, 1.6 million Australians are targeted by financial fraudsters each year at a combined personal cost of $2.1 billion a year.

"Our prosperous country is very much a target for criminals," Mr Jevtovic, who has held previous senior positions in the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Australian Crime Commission, said.

New technology had expanded the potential for Australians to be the target of serious financial crimes.

Australia's $2 trillion superannuation savings pool, in particular, had recently attracted the attention of criminal groups, with money having disappeared from self-managed super funds.

"Super funds have been targeted by organised criminals. I suspect that that is not going to diminish."

Ten years ago, it took a lot of "physical effort" to steal money, but today large sums could vanish from accounts "with the press of a button".

Malicious software, banking trojans and online theft were all making the job of authorities harder and exposing more Australians to potential victimisation. "We really are struggling to keep pace," Mr Jevtovic said.

And in a new twist, organised criminal groups were now targeting universities, recruiting graduates with financial qualifications to work in "boiler rooms", making cold calls to vulnerable Australians to sell them bogus financial products.

"Organised crime groups target some of the best universities in the world and bring these people into the organisation. That's actually what we're up against."

In a previous role, Mr Jevtovic joined with Thai authorities to raid such a group. "The organised criminals had purchased the personal profile of thousands and thousands of Australians." Retirees, single widowers and self-managed super funds were particular targets.

"They had all the information down pat. They were able to contact thousands of Australian in a week. They employed university graduates who had learnt English but also had the financial knowledge to be able to sell the [bogus] products to innocent, vulnerable Australians."

He also told the story of a fourth generation farmer who lost $4 million by giving money to a bogus financial scam.

The recent Panama Papers revelations were an unprecedented - outside of Wikileaks - data leak and were a "wake up call" to the magnitude of global attempts to conceal illicit wealth and reduce tax.

Within 48 hours of the leak, AUSTRAC and other members of the Government's Serious Financial Crimes Taskforce, including the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Tax Office, had been in touch with international counterparts and, in an "unprecedented step", began sharing intelligence with industry contacts.

More than 1000 Australian entities identified in the leak of information from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, are now the subject of investigation.

"Things like the Panama Papers are not unique. The ability to create complex structures...is only become more challenging," Mr Jevtovic said on Thursday.

In the end, the best way for Australians to protect themselves online was to follow the mantra that "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

Parents should discuss with their children the potential pitfalls of disclosing too much information online, including that they might be targeted by not just financial criminals, but terrorists and sexual predators.

"That's one of the challenges we face. How do we fight the reality that a 14-year-old can be groomed by terrorists in the bedroom of his suburban home? That's one of the challenges we face."

Children and parents "do need to be aware of the risks". "We're such an affluent country and our youth are probably some of the most affluent in the world. That makes them a target. I think it's about having those conversations."