Government Support To Fight Scams Welcomed By Banks

The New Zealand Banking Association welcomes the New Zealand government’s support to help fight fraud at the inaugural Global Fraud Summit held in London this week.

NZBA chair Vittoria Shortt, who attended the summit on behalf of the New Zealand banking industry, says the commitment to support collaboration across sectors is essential to tackling fraud both internationally and in New Zealand.

“The summit communiqué, agreed by the 11 participating countries, expressly acknowledges the fraud ecosystem that criminals exploit to deceive people into making payments to them. Authorised push payment scams, for example, often start with a fake website result on a search engine, fake social media ad, email, text, or phone call. It’s crucial we engage telcos and global tech companies to help defend New Zealanders from scammers.

“We’re delighted to see these governments calling out the need for sectors to identify and remove fraudulent material from their platforms. That’s essential to strengthening New Zealand’s defences and weakening the ecosystem on which these criminals rely.

“The banking industry has stepped up with a suite of commitments to further protect customers from fraud, including bringing in a confirmation of payee service, removing links from texts to customers, and supporting the establishment of a co-ordinated multi-sector Anti-Scam Centre.

“Banks have got the Anti-Scam Centre off the ground by identifying and sharing more information faster about mule accounts used by criminals to move stolen money. Taking the Anti-Scam Centre to the next level will need the involvement of other sectors and government agencies.

“We look forward to working with the government to help realise the commitments it made this week in London.”

Note: The Global Fraud Summit Communiqué is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communique-from-the-global-fraud-summit/global-fraud-summit-communique-11-march-2024

Link to media release: https://www.nzba.org.nz/2024/03/14/government-support-to-fight-scams-welcomed-by-banks/

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