Foreword from NAB Executive Group Investigations, Chris Sheehan

We’re in the middle of a global scam epidemic. Stopping the crime before it happens is the only way we can stop scammers targeting Australians.

This report clearly shows that scams cannot by stopped by one industry alone.

Scams start with a text message, a phone call, a dodgy social media post, fraudulent ad or a fake website. Banks are often blind to this activity until the payment is made. And, in many cases, the criminals have socially-engineered the person to make the transaction themselves and coached them how to answer questions that banks might ask. This adds another layer of complexity to try to detect scam payments among legitimate ones.

That’s why NAB supports the Australian Government’s approach, which focuses on prevention and will be far superior and more extensive than the UK model. Australia’s Codes will introduce high standards for telcos, social and digital media companies, as well as banks and set out reimbursement requirements where these standards are not met.

Read the full report here NAB Consumer Insights – Scams (August 2024)