Scam Prevention Framework is a move in the right direction

The Federal Government today released a new Scams Prevention Framework for public consultation. An RMIT expert is available to comment.

Professor Asha Rao, cyber security expert

"In 2022, Australians lost over $3B to scams. In 2023, as per the ACCC, Australians reported over 600,000 scams - an increase of 18.5% to the year before, leading to losses of over $2.74 billion.

"Scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated, tailoring scams to demographics and rendering all of us unsafe in our own ways.

"While there are many ways in which Australians are getting better at spotting scams and becoming better at not clicking on links, there are still many of us getting caught in the scammer's net, as the data shows.

"When credit cards are used for fraud, banks are good at alerting us and are often able to stop the fraud very quickly.

"Unfortunately, this is not the case with bank transfers, which is where most fraud is happening.

"If we could be alerted that the account we are about to transfer money into is not what it purports to be, that would go a long way in reducing the losses.

"In this regards, the proposed legislation on a framework to prevent scams is a welcome one.

"The government is planning to introduce mandatory codes that would requires banks, telcos and tech giants to work together to reduce the advertising, carriage and consummation of scams.

"While Australia is a small market, a giant step such as this may bring us closer to bigger players into the market, such as Europe.

"This legislation is definitely a step in the right direction to make Australia a real player with regards to regulations to keep us safer."

Professor Asha Rao is a cyber security expert and a trans-disciplinary researcher working across mathematics, cyber security and gender equity in STEM.

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