National Australia Bank reports that customers abandoned A$48.5 million in payments over the past two months after receiving scam warnings from the bank.
NAB alerts customers when a payment appears unusual or raises potential scam flags. These notifications aim to prompt recipients to pause and verify the transaction before proceeding.
In December, driven by holiday shopping and Boxing Day sales, customers canceled $26 million in payments after receiving alerts. In November, during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping spree, approximately $22.5 million in payments were also abandoned.
Chris Sheehan from NAB’s group investigations team emphasizes, “Banks cannot see a criminal’s communications through text messages, phone calls, social media, or fraudulent websites until a customer attempts to transfer money or make a payment. These alerts are intended to identify any unusual behaviors and encourage customers to pause before hitting send, as retrieving a completed transfer can be challenging.”
With an increase in scam attempts, NAB has implemented several measures to combat fraud. These include removing hyperlinks from messages, enhancing its investigations team, and joining a fraud and scams intelligence-sharing network that uses behavioral and device-based technology from security vendor BioCatch.