A small business owner in Western Australia's far north says he is $12,500 out of pocket after money was transferred from his bank account by thieves who stole his phone.

Broome man Tony Moore was catering a charity breakfast for the homeless last month when, he says, someone stole his mobile phone.

Mr Moore said his phone did not have a passcode set and whoever took it was able to open it and access the device's applications.

Using the Find My iPhone app to track down his mobile's location, the 64-year-old said he reported the address to local police that evening. 

The long-term Broome resident said his phone was crucial to the running of his small takeaway-food business, so he hoped police would attend to the reported address. 

"It controls my online ordering system, it's got my security cameras for the shop," Mr Moore said.

"I use my phone almost like a computer. I send emails, receive emails, do banking, and control my online ordering and different portals to the taxation department.

The following morning, Mr Moore said he took matters into his own hands, going to a house where his phone 'pinged'.

Searching rubbish bins and the driveway, he said he found the device in a wrecked car.

Mr Moore said when he checked his online banking, he was shocked to see messages from his bank, Westpac, which showed money had been transferred to new recipients.

"There's no guarantee that I'm going to get the money," he said.

"I really needed a more proactive attempt by either the police or the banks that if we could get the accounts frozen, more action could have been taken immediately.

"It had to happen before the money disappeared."

Mr Moore said $10,000 had been transferred to a Bankwest account, with a second transaction of $2,000 sent to a Commonwealth bank account.

He said that $500 had also been withdrawn from an ATM.

The ABC has seen two bank documents that show the names of the recipients.

No security code, no help

Nationally, scams have been fleecing Australians of record amounts, with $3.1 billion lost in 2022.

More than 6,800 bank impersonation scam reports were lodged with Scamwatch last year, resulting in cumulative losses of about $18 million.

Mr Moore says he notified Westpac of the transactions.

However, he was told he wasn't eligible for reimbursement because he didn't have a passcode set on his phone, which breached the terms and conditions.

"One of the questions was 'did I have a pin number to actually open my phone?'" he said.

"They said 'well, thank you, Mr. Moore. You've broken the terms and conditions of banking with Westpac online'.

Mr Moore said he doesn't know how the thieves got into his Westpac account, and insists no banking details were saved on his phone.