Be aware to scams at every turn

Australians are continuing to be confronted by increasingly sophisticated and elaborate scams. Criminals are devising new ways to compromise the security of customers’ accounts and companies must adapt to the latest threats.

Advancements in new technology and improved customer education are key to help reduce the effectiveness of scams, but more work is needed.

"One of the key differences when we contact our customers, we will never ask them for their personal information, things like their credit card number or PIN number or login credentials" – Shaq Johnson, head of customer protection, ANZ.

Australians reported a record 601,000 of scams last year, up from the 507,000 reported in 2022, with losses totalling $2.7 billion, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch.

The good news is a more coordinated approach to detection and prevention of scams across all industries looks to be making a difference. Losses reported to Scamwatch fell to $82.1 million in the three months to December, down 43 per cent from the same quarter in 2022.

This trend is mirrored in ANZ’s own data. From October 2023 to June 2024, total customer scam losses fell by about 49 per cent and the number of scams decreased by around a third compared with the same period a year earlier.

In that time, we have prevented more than $100 million of customer funds going to cybercriminals. Also our data shows online platforms are the most common source of scams, accounting for almost 45 per cent of customer reports.

With all this going on, how can customers ensure they’re doing everything they can to keep their data and money secure?

I spoke recently on a podcast with ANZ’s head of customer protection Shaq Johnson about the new developments his team are seeing as we enter Scams Awareness Week.

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“We're seeing a reduction in scam losses, which is great. I think it's the first year-on-year reduction we've seen in over five years,” Johnson says. “We've been focusing on scams over the last few years and we've invested heavily in education, prevention and detection and response.”

One of the main scams Shaq’s team have been monitoring is the so-called bank impersonation scam. These scams are very hard to detect and the criminal scammers are becoming more adept at mirroring how banks interact with their customers.

“When we detect something unusual in our customer's account, we often call them to understand what's happening and ask them a series of questions. And that's exactly what the scammers are doing,” Johnson says.

“They're contacting our customers via text message saying that there's something unusual on their accounts and asking them to call. Or sometimes they call our customers and say, ‘we've detected some unusual activity on your account’.”

What happens next is the scammers ask customers to do certain things, like confirm their personal information or transfer the funds to another “safe” account. Quite often they’ll use fear and pressure tactics to get customers to act quickly, without thinking. These are things the bank would never ask.

“One of the key differences when we contact our customers, we will never ask them for their personal information, things like their credit card number or PIN number or login credentials,” Johnson says.

“We would most certainly not ask them to send money to another account. If we have concerns about the safety or the security of their accounts, then we will put measures in place to protect their accounts.”

Artificial intelligence

One factor making some scams harder to spot is the use of artificial intelligence. Scammers are using it to improve in written communications, in SMS and emails for scams involving phishing.

AI is also being used to create deep fake ads or voice cloning on social media to help lure customers into a scam. Criminals can also use AI to churn through huge amounts of data to help link details to victims in order to personalise attacks and make them more convincing.

“We used to tell our customers to look out for grammar or spelling mistakes or the use of poor English. That's no longer the case in most instances. Customers are receiving really high-quality written emails or SMSs.”

Conversely, banks are also using AI to combat scammers. For example, banks use it to analyse huge amounts of data and transactional information to help spot examples of what might be scam activity.

“There's a lot of experimentation we have to do to understand some of the opportunities that new technologies like AI present for us to be able to better protect our customers,” Johnson says.

One piece of advice from banks and other companies hasn’t changed though – if you think you’ve been the victim of a scam, contact the bank as soon as possible. These transactions move incredibly quickly and even minutes can make a difference.

“If your personal information has been compromised and there’s a risk of unauthorised activity, you need to take quick action,” Johnson says. “Your bank is in a much better position to initiate recovery of your funds and we can put measures in place to protect the security of your account.”

Amanda Schultz is Media & Public Relations Manager at ANZ.