Westpac, one of Australia's "big four" banks, is launching its first trial of scam protections aimed at combating cryptocurrency-related fraud.
These protections are designed to mitigate losses and reduce potential risks from fraud.
According to the announcement, investment scams account for about 50% of all customer losses related to scams, while about a third of all scams involve direct transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges, making them extremely difficult to track down. The Westpac ban came on the same day that Binance customers were told they could no longer use PayID to transfer Australian dollars into their accounts. Binance said that “third-party vendors” have placed restrictions on the exchange, which currently affects bank transfer withdrawals.
Scott Collary, group director of client services and technology at Westpac, said that while digital exchanges played a legitimate role in the financial ecosystem, the rise of digital currencies had increased scammers taking advantage of overseas exchanges. plans to gradually introduce a phased trial of the new encrypted payment protection block in late May. The trial joins other recent initiatives such as Westpac Verify. This feature notifies customers of potential account name mismatches when making payments to new bank state branches and account numbers, or when sending mo ney to Westpac accounts that have no previous transaction history.
Australians have lost more than $129 million to cryptocurrency scams, consumer advocacy group Choice has reported. In 2021 alone, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission received more than 12,000 reports of such scams.
Cryptocurrency investment scams come with warning signs such as deceptive social media ads, deceptive websites, forged documents and use of deceptive software. Additionally, scammers may possess undisclosed personal information or attempt to manipulate targets in to action during phone conversations.
