Online banking
With COVID driving more people online, losses from scams had tripled to AU$2.7 billion in 2023, compared to 2020. Pixabay

Australia's major banks have teamed up with Israeli digital fraud detection startup, BioCatch, to launch a new anti-scam pilot project aimed at reducing fraudulent banking payments.

BioCatch Trust Australia, the world's first inter-bank fraud and scams intelligence-sharing network based on behavior and device data, will be used to assess whether customers of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ Group Holdings, Westpac, and Suncorp Bank were legitimate or fraudulent, Reuters reported.

The network will facilitate real-time assessment of potential risks linked to the accounts that customers intend to use. When a risk is detected, BioCatch will supply real-time intelligence to the sending bank, enabling a transaction review before the money is transferred from the sender's account.

NAB has been collaborating with Tel Aviv-based BioCatch since early 2022. Chris Sheehan of the Executive Group Investigations stated that the partnership was another crucial step to protect customers.

"Initiatives like payment alerts in the NAB App and Internet Banking, removing links from text messages and ongoing education are having an impact," Sheehan said. "Scammers are grubs who will do anything to rip Australians off. We are committed to innovating and using technology to help stop the crime and protect people."

With COVID driving more people online, losses from scams had tripled to AU$2.7 billion in 2023, compared to 2020.

The goal is to disrupt the scam network and stop scams at their source. By blocking the flood of fake emails, texts, social media ads, and other tactics used by criminals, the latter can be driven out of the country, Sheehan pointed out.

"Doing that successfully requires banks, telcos, social and digital media companies to all play their part to stop the crime," he said.

The consumer watchdog, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, had been working on introducing a new law by the end of 2024. This law would require internet companies to adopt a mandatory, enforceable anti-scam code, legally binding them to take steps to protect users, including providing a complaint service. Companies that fail to comply would face penalties.