The Federal Government has released new legislation that places greater responsibility on banks, telcos, social media, paid search engine advertising and direct messaging services to tackle scams.
The Scams Prevention Framework establishes principles that require these organisations to prevent, detect, report, disrupt and respond to scam ads.
Organisations that ignore the new laws face fines of up to $50 million.
There are already criminal laws in place to deal with scammers that operate in Australia, but these do not apply to scamming operations based overseas.
As a result, the government is placing a greater onus on the distribution infrastructure that scammers use to target Australians.
“Under these new laws there will be strong obligations on banks, on telecommunications companies, on social media platforms to prevent, to protect, to disrupt scams, to respond to threats in their systems, and to be a part of a national reporting system so we can share intelligence on what’s happening in the economy,” Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told ABC radio.
“If they don’t meet these obligations fines and compensation to victims will flow.”
Scamming on the rise
Australians reported a record 601,000 scams in 2023, an increase of 18.5 per cent on the previous year, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Scams cost victims $2.74 billion last year although Aussies are starting to wise up to some of the schemes. In the most recent National Anti-Scam Centre report, which covered the first quarter of 2024, scammers reported fewer losses largely due to decreases in loses to investment scams (see chart below).
One company that has been at the coalface of tackling scams is Meta. Between September 2023 and March 2004, Facebook removed 1.3 billion fake accounts, where scam advertising operations often spawn.
There have been several examples of scammers using high profile Australian identities, including David Koch, Sam Kerr, Andrew Forrest, Eddie McGuire, Gina Rinehart and others to post ads in which they shill shady crypto investment schemes and other forms of fraud.
Earlier this year, Meta’s local boss Will Easton told a press briefing that company uses AI technology to help prevent scam ads from appearing and identify those that should be removed. It also acts on reports from users that flag scam activity. Meta works with government institutions, including the National Anti-Scam Centre, and other organisations tackling scam activity.
“This is a broader ecosystem problem. Most companies, whether you’re a publisher, a telco, or a social media platform, are all trying to work through some of the challenges around scams. And it’s definitely increasing in prevalence in Australia,” Easton said.
“So it’s something we’re aware of and we are putting a lot of work into, but it’s a challenge. If you talk to any technology company or telco, these bad actors are very sophisticated and operating outside of Australia. We’re doing absolutely everything we can to take them off our platform.”
The government is now seeking public feedback on the Scams Prevention Framework and how it might apply to each specific industry before finalising the legislation for Parliament.
