Don't be an inadvertent April Fool. That's the message from authorities this 1 April, as new data reveals Australians lost more than $11 million to online banking impersonators in 2024*.
The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JCP3) is working closely with Australian banking partners to combat a rise in bank impersonation scams, as online fraudsters continue to fleece the community.
In 2024, ScamWatch received 190,592 impersonation scam reports, costing more than $181 million. Of these, 10,800 related specifically to online banking.
"Scams are increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult for consumers to identify them as fake," Commander Marshall said.
"Our warning is to be very wary of all unsolicited contact online.
"Fraudsters pretend to be trusted businesses, government agencies, law enforcement, friends or family, to steal money or personal information.
"Victims of banking impersonators, for example, will usually receive an email, text message or phone call from someone purporting to be from a bank's security team.
"Scammers will begin by telling victims they have detected a suspicious payment, their account has been compromised or they have been approved for a loan they never actually applied for. This conversation is often conducted in a way that suggests an extreme sense of urgency."
Commander Marshall said one tactic scammers used was leveraging information they could access to secure details they did not have.
"They will use avenues including data breaches, phishing and other cyber attacks to secure information such as their victim's full name, their date of birth, account and credit card details and even bank balances," he said.
"This allows them to build trust and legitimacy with their victim so they can convince them to hand over log-in details.
"Using this information, they then directly access and drain the victim's bank account, hitting the scam jackpot."
Commander Marshall said another common tactic encouraged victims to transfer money to a 'safe' account, which was really the criminal's own bank account.
