Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One afternoon, I found myself listening to Ben Fordham's podcast on 2GB and I heard the story of Paul Trefry. Paul was contacted via text message by ANZ. They told him his business account had been compromised and, in order to solve it, he had two options: cancel his credit card or deposit money into a new account. Paul decided to go with the second option. Over a four-day period, $133,000 was transferred into this new account. But, in reality, it was being transferred into an account owned by scammers. ANZ has helped recover some of the money, but there's still just under $70,000 missing. Scammers had spoofed ANZ's SMS service so it looked like messages were coming directly from ANZ. What makes this case so heartbreaking is that ANZ were aware that their SMS service was compromised but didn't let Paul know about it.

Online, text message, phone and in-person scams cost Australians a whopping $3.1 billion in 2022. Disturbingly, that was an increase of 80 per cent from the year before, and the average amount lost per scam is a whopping $20,000. In Australia, an average of only two to five per cent of funds lost through scams are refunded. In comparison, in the UK, 66 per cent of funds are refunded. In 2019, a voluntary code was set up in the UK for banks, with a comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at combating fraudulent activities and protecting individuals from falling victim to scams. This code encourages financial institutions to collaborate in order to prevent scams and provide support for those who have been targeted. During the Standing Committee on Economics public hearings with the big four banks recently, I asked each of the big four banks if they would sign a voluntary code like the one in the UK, and each of them advised they would not.

The time is right for the government to step in. In July, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told the ABC that this government will lift the bar and ensure that banks are accountable for much more. This is very welcome news. While the government has taken substantial steps to combat scams, including $86.5 million in the budget for anti-scam measures, further reform is needed to protect vulnerable Australians from losing money to scammers. Yesterday it was announced that the Commonwealth Bank made a record $10.2 billion in profit. While Australian banks are making major profit increases, their customers continue to be hugely impacted by scams on a daily basis. In the UK, there is a clear model where banks have taken a greater responsibility and have drastically improved results for victims of scams. The same must happen here.

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