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Retirees getting smarter with scam numbers, dollars lost falling
Finally, some good news for retirees in the war against scammers. In the seven months to July 2024, the number of scams reported to ScamWatch involving those aged 65 and over was 40,635 or an average 5,807 a month – a slight decline from the 2023 monthly average of 6,043.
But of far more significance was the fact that the reported losses to July 2024 have fallen to a monthly average of $7,142 million compared with $10,083 million in 2023. These numbers suggest it’s becoming more difficult for criminals to prey on retirees.
What gives these ScamWatch figures an even more positive spin is that people are far more prepared to admit they have been scammed. This nefarious activity is fast losing its social stigma with the Australian Banking Association reporting that more than 90 per cent of Australian adults experienced a scam or fraud in 2023.
What this heartening news hopefully demonstrates is that this scourge is now being effectively tackled by the combined efforts of government, law enforcement and the private sector.
It’s far too early to declare victory. Much more needs to be done, with National Australia Bank executive group investigations Chris Sheehan still describing it as a digital crime tidal wave.
“I don’t like using dramatic phrasing when it comes to this sort of thing,” Sheehan tells The Golden Times. “But the reality is that’s where we are. It’s a type of criminality that is being driven, make no mistake about it, by transnational organised crime groups.”
He says that one of the most concerning aspects of scams is the sheer number of victims involved at every stage of the scam lifecycle. “Most scams that impact our customers originate either via an online platform, a social media service, a phone call, a text message or a messaging service like WhatsApp. That’s not made-up data. That’s the reality.”
It’s a reality the banks are taking deadly seriously, as the just-concluded 2024 Scam Awareness Week highlighted. They are being far more vigilant in not only combating scams but in educating their customers about how to better identify potential scams and empower them with the knowledge and tools to stay safe online.
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA), which invested more than $800 million to protect customers against fraudulent behaviour in 2023-24, is offering regional Australians access to more than 400 Staying Safe Online education sessions over the next 12 months, doubling the number on offer. Hosted by its branches across regional Australia, these free in-person seminars are designed to help communities.
The bank also plans to partner with local community groups across regional Australia to expand the accessibility and awareness of the program to more people. In addition to running the free sessions in hundreds of regional branches, the bank plans to deliver them in clubs, community centres and other venues in regional towns, allowing more people, no matter who they bank with, to attend.
CBA executive general manager (customer service network) Mark Jones (pictured) says: “We have a strong commitment to regional Australia. As the bank with the largest branch network in the country, we can leverage our scale to help more regional Australians stay safe online, and by partnering with other regional service providers, we can multiply this impact.”
In another initiative, CBA and Quantium Telstra announced their anti-scam technology, Scam Indicator, launched for mobile phones in October 2023, has been expanded to cover landlines to help detect suspicious calls in real time.
With Telstra data showing more than 85 per cent of residential landlines services are registered to Australians aged 60 or over, this cutting-edge technology can potentially assist this cohort ward off the siren call of the scammer, especially with data showing those aged 65 or over lost more money in 2023 than any other age group.
Quantium Telstra CEO Sandy Cameron says: “Landlines are still an essential service for many Australians, but they can also be a target for opportunistic scammers preying on people’s trust and goodwill. Expanding Scam Indicator to cover landlines means we’re able to help safeguard those in our community that are most vulnerable to being targeted by cyber criminals.”
The anti-scam technology indicates whether a customer may be on a call to a scammer, with its fraud team having the capacity to apply holds, blocks and declines and proactively send real-time alerts to the affected customer.
