Statement from Chris Sheehan, NAB Executive Group Investigations:

Scams are a global epidemic. We need to stop the crime before it happens and that requires a national, coordinated approach, across different business sectors, government, law enforcement and the community. No one industry can stop these criminals alone given the way they operate.

While we can’t comment on specific cases, it’s crucial Australian businesses have adequate and up to date cyber security protections to help stop crimes like Business Email Compromise. Secure systems stop invoice details being compromised.  NAB is also committed to the new banking industry Confirmation of Payee system to be implemented in 2025 under the Australian Banking Association Scams Safe Accord.

We always do whatever we can to try to recover stolen money and support other banks’ investigations. This is very difficult as funds are often quickly sent overseas or to largely unregulated crypto platforms.

NAB takes its financial crime obligations very seriously. Where we identity or are notified of possible illegal activity, we take action that may include freezing accounts and exiting accounts and customers.

Statement from Macquarie Bank:

Across the industry, we’re not only seeing an increase in the volume and complexity of scams, we’re seeing increasingly convincing scammers. We’re actively raising awareness among our customers on what to look out for and how to keep their personal information and money secure.

In a business email compromise scam for example, a scammer may send an altered payment instruction (also known as ‘invoice fraud’) via email. Often, scammers will impersonate a business and send fake invoices to customers using different bank details. We recommend that customers call the intended recipient of new payments on a trusted, publicly available number to confirm the transfer request and bank details prior to completing any transaction, to ensure the transfer is going to the intended recipient.