Three in five Australians have been a victim of a scam, or know someone who has, according to research from Commonwealth Bank. On average, Australians receive five scam calls, emails or messages a week, equating to over 250 attempts a year.
The CommBank study reveals that a third of Australians who fell victim to a scam did not report it due to various factors, including feeling like it was their fault (41 per cent), believing that it wouldn’t be worth the effort (33 per cent), and feeling embarrassed or ashamed (26 per cent).
Fifty-seven per cent of Australians also say they have become more concerned about scams over the last 12 months.
The launch of the research coincides with the launch of a new ‘CommBank Safe’ national advertising campaign to raise awareness and help protect Australians from scams.
James Roberts, general manager of group fraud at Commonwealth Bank, said: “The CommBank Safe campaign is a call to arms encouraging every Australian to stay safe. Through this bank-wide initiative, we hope to contribute to increasing national awareness and resilience against this potentially devastating issue, particularly amongst our most vulnerable customers.
“As scammers become more sophisticated, devious and harder to identify than ever, we want to help our customers feel safe when banking on their devices, knowing we’re doing whatever we can to protect, detect and resolve issues they encounter. If you think you have fallen victim to a scam, call us to see if we can help.”
Utilising artificial intelligence
In July, the Bank also introduced AI technology using machine learning techniques to track unusual changes to the way a customer normally interacts with their devices. It alerts the security team if there are any changes to behaviour which may be a signal someone else has accessed the account. The Bank also rolled out two-way push notifications while doubling the size of its scam protection and prevention team.
According to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, $2billion was lost in 2021 due to scams. Investment scams were the highest loss category ($701million), followed by payment redirection scams ($227million), and romance scams ($142million).
