Westpac has released new data revealing the effectiveness of Australia’s scam prevention efforts.
The new analysis conducted by BDO compared Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and the United States (US) and found Australia is “one of the most successful countries” in bringing down scam losses.
According to the report:
- Per capita scam losses in the UK (AUD$33.48) are almost double those in Australia (AUD$17.69).
- Losses in the UK, Canada and US have continued to increase since 2020 while Australian losses are down 52% in 2024.
Following the introduction of the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) in the UK, scam cases have grown at “almost four times the rate of Australian cases with UK scam reports up by 90%.”
Westpac Group Executive, Customer and Corporate Services, Carolyn McCann says Australia is “emerging as a global leader in scam prevention.”
“This report demonstrates how a combined focus on scam prevention is key to reducing losses and driving this crime out of our economy. Collaborative efforts from Government, banks and telcos to stop scams has meant scam losses in Australia are now coming down.”
They added:
“To maintain this momentum and ensure Australians are protected, we need to make our country the hardest place for scammers to operate in. This can only be achieved if all players in the ecosystem step up and do their part. We urge digital platforms in particular to take action and stop scammers from using their products to target unsuspecting Australians. More than half of all scams are originating on these platforms and they need to be stopped.”
In a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, Westpac has called for bipartisan support to “ensure whole-of-ecosystem action on scams through the Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) Bill.”
McCann also mentioned:
“While we have put forward some recommendations which we think are important to improving the Bill, we think this is an important piece of national interest legislation which serves to better protect Australians from scams.”
Over the past two years Westpac has invested over $100 million in scam prevention saving customers over $400 million from being lost to scammers. Key initiatives have included:
- Westpac SafeCall – coming soon, Westpac SafeCall provides customers with calls via the app that are Westpac branded, verified by Optus and show a reason for the call.
- Westpac SaferPay – presents customers with a series of questions in instances where a payment is considered a high risk of being a scam.
- Westpac Verify – alerts customers when there is a potential account name mismatch when they’re adding a new payee using a BSB and account number. Verify was recently introduced for St.George, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA customers.
- Dynamic CVC – changes the three-digit code on the back of the digital card every 24-hours. This feature is also available for St.George, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA customers.
- Cryptocurrency blocks – for payments to certain digital currency exchanges.
- Merchant blocks – for payments to businesses deemed high-risk of being a scam (e.g. offering fake or misleading products and services).
- Call spoofing measures – added 94,000 Westpac numbers to the ‘Do Not Originate’ list preventing scammers from impersonating the bank’s phone numbers.
- Inbound payment detection – monitoring on payments coming into the bank to check for potential scam indicators, with funds held where a scam is detected.
- Sophisticated detection technology – advanced behavioural tool helping combat remote access scams.
