Despite a significant rise of 3,000 percent in scams in Australia over the past decade, leading to reported losses of $3.1 billion (US$2.07 billion), experts warn artificial intelligence (AI) will cause scams to reach even greater levels in 2024.
National Australia Bank (NAB) NAB cautions that AI scams, seen in the UK and US, are likely to emerge in down under soon.
The top scams to watch out for are:
- AI voice impersonation scams
- Term deposit investment scams
- Remote access scams using chat
- Romance scams
- Ticket scams
- QR code phishing scams
“Scammers create a sense of urgency to encourage you to act quickly. It could be a phone call from your ’son‘ or ’daughter' in distress and needing money (AI voice impersonation scams), a fantastic term deposit rate that’s only available for a limited time, or cheap concert tickets going quickly,” she said.
She pointed out that AI voice scams are a concern because they can be made in merely three seconds using sound from social media, voicemail, or website videos.
The criminals creating these voice scams know that many Australians face financial pressures and have started other scams in response.
Posing as banks or financial companies, scammers exploit Australians’ financial difficulties and entice them with attractive returns through fake term deposits, she explained.
“Investment scams are consistently among the top scams impacting our customers,” she said.
“We had a business bank customer nearly lose $200,000 to a ‘Citibank’ term deposit offering 6.8 percent.”
“We also had a Tasmanian customer come into a branch wanting to transfer $80,000 to an investment firm in Perth with a rate of 12 percent.”
Meanwhile, remote access scams commonly trick people into downloading apps or software that grant remote access to their computers, where criminals then discover banking login details and other personal information.
“We anticipate criminals will continue to target Australian consumers and businesses with remote access scams in 2024. That’s because the losses often run into tens of thousands of dollars, compared to other scams where the criminals might net $500 or $1,000,” Ms. Hartley said.
She noted it comes down to criminals using technology to manipulate victims when and where they least suspect it.
“When many of us are relaxing and enjoying the new year, scammers are busy working on new scams,” she said.
A busy summer of music, sports, and entertainment also allows criminals to exploit ticket scams, capitalising on people’s fear of missing out.
These scams typically begin on social media platforms, where criminals either respond to fans seeking tickets or post fake ones online.
Bank Customers Report 1,500 Monthly Scam Cases
Ms. Hartley added NAB customers report about 1,500 scam cases each month, with potentially significant financial and emotional consequences.She explained recovering money from a criminal’s account is typically very challenging despite the banks’ best efforts.
“Our fraud team receives an average of almost 80,000 calls monthly,” she said.
“That’s up from an average of 63,800 calls a month a year ago.”
NAB Chief Digital Officer Suj Rana weighed in.
He said scammers are highly sophisticated multinational organised crime units.
“These scammers aren’t just people operating out of a garage or out of a basement,” he said.
“And they’re always looking for new ways to take advantage of customers by leveraging the latest technology; in this case, it’s AI.”
NAB recommends people contact their bank immediately if they suspect they have been scammed.
$24.5M Lost to Text Message Scams
The warning comes as recent scam data from Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre (ANASC) revealed text messages are the most common method fraudsters used in 2023, resulting in losses of over $24.5 million.In 2023, Australians reported over 11,000 parcel delivery scams to Scamwatch, leading to losses exceeding $720,000 between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, while the previous year saw 2,931 reports and losses of $56,000.
ANASC previously cautioned about scammers sending text messages impersonating Australia Post and other courier services, falsely claiming the recipient’s address needs updating before parcel delivery.
This aligns with data from Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) revealing that deceptive text and email messages rank as the top scam trend affecting the bank’s customers.
CBA and telecom giant Vodafone announced a new intelligence-sharing pilot designed to help protect customers from rising SMS scams.
The pilot sees Vodafone and CBA work together to quickly share information about SMS scams, allowing Vodafone to stop scammers and the bank to proactively block potential fraudulent payments.
Vodafone General Manager Corporate Security Simone Sant said Vodafone had blocked more than 67.8 million SMS scams from reaching Australians in 2023.
“Our analysis shows fraudsters are scheming up new ways to scam customers out of their hard-earned cash in the lead up to the holiday season with Vodafone blocking more than 17.6 million SMS scams in September and October, a 45 percent year-on-year increase,” she said.
“CommBank has invested about $750m to help protect and defend our customers from cyber security threats, financial crime, and fraud and scams. By collaborating closely with Vodafone, we’re focused on helping to minimise financial harm associated with the ever-evolving threat of SMS scams.”
“There is much more to do, and taking a collaborative and cross-industry approach is essential.”
