Banks, telecoms companies and tech giants such as Facebook will have to show they are working to prevent and protect their customers from scams, or face hefty fines.
Businesses that fail to crack down on fraudsters will face penalties of up to $50 million under new laws announced Friday by the federal government.
More than 600,000 scam reports were filed nationwide last year, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest Target Scams report.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the new mandatory codes would put the onus back on businesses to protect Australians from loss, which
“The Albanian government is working to make Australia the toughest target in the world for fraudsters,” he said on Friday.
“New obligations on all of them to ensure they prevent, disrupt, report and combat fraudsters… Which will ensure they do more to keep their customers safe.”
The government will introduce a fraud prevention framework
The federal government wants to establish a scam prevention framework, which will set out businesses’ obligations to prevent, detect, report, disrupt and respond to scams.
In practice, under this code, banks will have to do more to confirm the identity of beneficiaries before allowing them to transfer money.
Telecommunications companies will be forced to crack down on fraudulent messages and phone calls.
The government said the framework signals a change in approach and means businesses must be held accountable for scams that occur across their businesses.
Companies may be forced to compensate victims.
Jones said tech giants such as Google, Tiktok and Facebook were not doing “enough to keep their networks secure”, with counterfeit hardware “depriving Australians of billions”.
“There will be new obligations on social media platforms in codes of practice to ensure they confirm the identity of people advertising on these platforms to ensure criminals do not have a easy way to publish their fake investment materials,” he said.
The Government will establish an independent tribunal for victims of scams to seek redress and make the process of recovering money easier for Australians.
Jones said the ACCC will have sweeping new powers under the laws to “ensure it keeps the system safe and pursues companies that do the wrong thing”.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomed the move.
“Australia has made progress, with losses from scams falling, but holding everyone in the scam chain to account is the only way to properly protect the community,” said Anna Bligh, CEO of Australia. ‘ABA, in a press release.
“These codes must first address the core issue of exposing people to scams. That means ensuring telecoms operators and social media platforms have strong protections in place to stop scams reaching Australians.”
The legislation is now open for public consultation, with the government hoping to pass it early next year.
