The industry association has urged Australians to be on guard against “unscrupulous” and “unsolicited” scammers who are falsely claiming to represent the Australian Banking Association.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has warned that there has been an increase in phone scams asking for bank details in order to issue a “refund”, survey customer satisfaction or record banking history.
The scam was first reported in 2016.
According to the ABA, some of the techniques used by the scammers include:
The ABA’s executive director of consumer policy, Christine Cupitt, urged Australians to remain vigilant against the scammers.
“We’ve seen a concerning rise in the number of people falsely claiming to be from the ABA, preying on unsuspecting victims and asking for their personal financial details,” Ms Cupitt said.
“The ABA, or any member bank, will never call members of the public seeking information about their personal bank accounts or security information.”
Ms Cupitt encouraged Australians who believe they’ve been affected by the scams to contact their financial institution and report the incident to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
“It’s vitally important that Australians keep their financial identity safe by following important measures such as not giving out your PIN, deleting spam emails, keeping antivirus software up to date and not responding to requests from unknown phone numbers,” Ms Cupitt added.
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“This week is National Scams Awareness Week, a timely reminder that if you think you’ve been the target of scammers, or indeed the victim of one, you should report it immediately to ACCC’s www.scamwatch.gov.au.”
The ABA offered tips to help Australians protect their financial identity:
According to the ACCC, approximately 33,000 Australians are affected by scammers each year, with an estimated cost to consumers of over $4.7 million.
[Related: Email scam warning for VIC home buyers]
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