- NAB experts share top tips to spot red flags of expected scam trends in 2025
- NAB customer losses down, but reports up as criminals find new ways to rip people off
NAB has identified AI-driven scams and new evolutions of cryptocurrency investment scams as key trends to watch out for in 2025, according to the bank's experts.
The big five scams Aussies should watch out for are:
- AI-powered scams
- Cryptocurrency investment scams
- Bucket list scams
- Remote access scams targeting businesses
- Phishing scams
NAB Executive, Group Investigations Chris Sheehan said the 'scamscape' was constantly evolving.
"We've identified five scams to watch based on trends we're seeing, what we hear from customers and societal issues."
"Every Australian needs to know about these scams so they can recognise the red flags and protect themselves and their loved ones in 2025," Mr Sheehan, a former Australian Federal Police executive, said.
Click here to read an explainer about these scams, including the specifics of how they work
Mr Sheehan said there were common red flags among the different scams.
"Criminals create urgency to act quickly. It could be creating FOMO (fear of missing out) that resold concert tickets will go quickly, that'll you miss the next big crypto investment opportunity or that there's a problem with your bank account and you need to move your money elsewhere," he said.
"Another common red flag across different scam types is that the contact is unexpected. For example, an out-of-the blue phone call from an 'internet provider' to fix your connection.
"Once funds are sent it's often very hard to recover money, despite our best efforts. Criminals quickly send it to overseas accounts or to cryptocurrency platforms knowing it makes it harder to retrieve. That's why we need all parts of the scam ecosystem taking action to stop the crime before it happens."
Mr Sheehan said AI could be used in all different scam types.
"Criminals are using AI to create deep fake videos impersonating high profile Australians and create images used in sextortion," he said.
"Three seconds of audio from a video or a voicemail or an image from social media is enough for criminals to get to work."
The warning comes as NAB continues its fight against criminals as part of a bank-wide scam strategy.
"Customer scam losses decreased 20% year-on-year. That's despite customer scam reports increasing 18% in the same period," Mr Sheehan said.
"We can, and will, do more in 2025 to protect our customers and the community.
"Contact your bank immediately if you think you've been scammed."
Risk Warning: Cryptocurrency is a unregulated virtual notoriously volatile instrument with a high level of risk. Any news, opinions, research, data, or other information contained within this website is provided for news reporting purposes as general market commentary and does not constitute investment or trading advice.
