CommBank is enhancing its collaboration with Telstra to roll out new fraud detection technology.
The recently launched Fraud Indicator, developed by Quantium Telstra in partnership with CommBank, enables the secure sharing of data concerning unusual mobile service usage to aid in the detection of identity theft. This technology went live earlier this month and is projected to improve the detection rate of fraudulently opened accounts by over 25% for customers of both CommBank and Telstra.
Sandy Cameron, CEO of Quantium Telstra, stated, “Fraudsters exhibit distinctive behaviors and patterns in their mobile phone usage. When this information is combined with an organization’s own insights and analytics, Fraud Indicator serves as a powerful tool to prompt interventions, potentially disrupting fraudulent attempts at an earlier stage.”
For instance, when a fraudster signs up for a new bank account, they provide a mobile number to receive passcodes and authenticate the account. By analyzing how this mobile service is used—differing from typical behaviors—CommBank can better evaluate the risk of potential fraudsters and possibly prevent fraudulent accounts from being created.
The introduction of Fraud Indicator follows last year’s launch of Scam Indicator, another technology from Telstra designed to detect and intercept suspected scam calls in real-time. CommBank reports that Scam Indicator has successfully helped protect customers from losing millions of dollars to scammers and has recently expanded its coverage to include landlines, ensuring protection for the most vulnerable customers.
While nationwide efforts are successfully reducing the overall impact of fraud, with scam losses in Australia decreasing by 13.1% from 2022 to 2023, the rate of identity theft is gradually rising, affecting about 200,000 Australians in FY23.
James Roberts, general manager of group fraud at CommBank, remarked, “We’ve reduced customer scam losses by more than 70% over the past two years, but we still have more work to do. Our focus remains on enhancing early detection and prevention, whether through sharing behavioral and device-based intelligence with other banks in real-time or collaborating with industries, including telcos like Telstra, to make Australia a less attractive target for scammers.”