The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has welcomed the partnership between the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Telstra to combat telephone scams.
The partnership will focus on the two companies developing new technologies that can detect and prevent scams before they occur. This is critical in the banking sector due to the intimate details associated with banking information. It is estimated that new preventative measures could mitigate customer losses of up to $15-20 million per year.
The partnership will bring together CBA’s expertise in financial services with Telstra’s experience in telecommunications. By simultaneously tackling scams at both ends, it will undoubtedly increase the detection and prevention of scams across a range of different channels.
It is clear to the AFCA that individuals require further education about the risks of scams and how to protect themselves. In 2021-22, AFCA received 4,131 complaints in relation to scams. This further increased by 28 per cent to an average of 400 scam-related complaints a month. AFCA hopes that this development will provide customers with information about common scams and how to identify them.
By bringing together two of Australia’s largest companies, the partnership will be able to develop new technologies and processes that can help prevent scams before they occur. Telstra has also demonstrated an initiative in implementing artificial intelligence (AI) internally across its customer service to help identify potential issues and cyber threats. It is likely that similar AI will be involved in filtering spam and scam.
The AFCA is hopeful that other banks and telecommunications companies will take similar initiatives to help protect Australians against banking and phone scams.
Pilot versions of the new pilot technology will be rolled out over the next few months.
