The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned that so-called “bank impersonation scams” are becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard to detect.
The ACCC said recent reports to Scamwatch detail incidents where the scammer sends a text that appears in the same conversation thread as genuine messages. Others report contact from scammers who appear to be using a bank’s legitimate phone number.
Scamwatch received 14,603 reports of bank impersonation scams in 2022, resulting in more than A$20 million of losses.
ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said: “We are incredibly concerned about bank impersonation scams because they can be so convincing.”
The watchdog is advising consumers to beware of any communication from a bank that highlights an “urgent problem” that requires. immediate action. It is also recommending that consumers never use a phone number included in an SMS but instead call the bank on a number they have sourced themselves.
Consumer groups are calling on banks to invest more in scam detection and prevention. Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Stephanie Tonkin accused the banks of “underplaying the crisis”.
Tonkin said: “Our financial counsellors speak to people every week whose accounts have been bled dry by scammers.”
Banks have recently announced some initiatives in this area. Earlier this week Commonwealth Bank said it is working with Telstra on a project called Scam Indicator that detects if a customer is on a phone call when making a transaction and contacts the customer to ask them to make additional checks.
Earlier this month, Westpac launched a new level of security, Westpac Verify, that alerts customers if there is a possible account name mismatch for payments to a BSB and account number via the New Payments Platform.
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has welcomed these developments but said the industry probably needs to do more.
AFCA chief executive David Locke said: “The widespread and sophisticated nature of scams means the industry needs to be willing to invest in new technology and have the ability to respond quickly.
“We continue to see large increases in the number and size of scams coming to AFCA – a sign that more needs to be done.”
Tonkin also welcomed the CBA and Westpac initiatives but said the industry should consider the “fraud refund guarantee” arrangements that are being put in place by UK banks.