Australians are reporting a record number of scams more than 1,500 every day causing enormous losses, especially for older people. Despite that authorities are hopeful system-wide changes are beginning to have a positive impact but victims and consumer groups say it's nowhere near enough.
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00:00 It was a scam text that led to Jenny Ying's family losing their life savings.
00:07 Criminals pretended to be from HSBC Bank and warned about suspicious transactions.
00:13 To us it was real HSBC legitimate staff contacting us and telling us they are helping us.
00:20 They tricked Jenny and her husband into handing over bank account details, resulting in almost $140,000 being stolen.
00:29 I was really terrified, I was really scared. I don't know what to do, that's our life savings.
00:36 Australians like Jenny reported a record number of scams last year.
00:40 The highest losses are from investment, remote access and romance scams.
00:45 Dodgy text messages are growing fast and people over 65 are suffering the most.
00:51 The criminals involved in the scamming activities aren't mugs. They're going to target their activity.
00:56 Total losses fell to $2.7 billion, but that's down from a record high.
01:02 Sitting behind that figure is immense consumer harm.
01:05 Authorities say better coordination and action by some banks is making inroads.
01:10 The data in this report gives us hope that with the right action we can be saving Australians millions and millions of dollars.
01:18 Consumer groups argue the enormous losses won't stop until meaningful obligations are placed upon key industries.
01:25 The government is vowing to do just that, but advocates argue compensation must be included, something meeting stiff resistance from banks.
01:34 The point about reimbursement is it's the hook for industry, for businesses to invest in their front line protections for their own customers.
01:43 The burden of scams should not be on the shoulders of Australian residents.
01:48 A burden continuing to destroy the financial lives of many.
01:52 many.
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