DAVID CAMPBELL:
Welcome back. Great to have your company. Optus, Medibank, Energy Australia, High Courts. There has been a wave of recent cyber‑attacks and everyday Aussies are dealing with the consequences.
AMELIA ADAMS:
They are and the Federal Government predicting $4 billion will be lost to scammers this year alone. To discuss this, we're joined by Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones. Minister, very good morning to you. Stolen personal data is being sold to criminals. So big businesses who are storing that data have got a fair bit to answer for.
STEPHEN JONES:
Yeah, look, $2 billion last year. We anticipate that will hit $4 billion this year. At a time when Australians are already struggling with cost of living increases, this is just going to hit them out of the park. More needs to be done. More will be done. Today, we're announcing that we'll implement our election commitment for a new anti‑scam centre set up with the ‑ inside the ACCC. But we'll also be rolling out new industry codes. We'll be putting in place some significant review and changes to the anti‑privacy laws, which are woefully out of date. And a big job of work also needs to be done to make it easier for people who have had their identities stolen to repair those IDs and ensure that they aren't victims of a subsequent scam. So, a lot of work to be done, but when you look at those numbers moving from $2 billion to $4 billion, we can't afford to have another year where there's no action on this.
CAMPBELL:
Well, no, and these are more than just numbers. I mean, one Melbourne family, there are cafe owners there, they've lost $40,000. That's through the Optus data breach, which hit them and stung them time and time again later on. They're going to join us a little bit later on. But for them or for families like them, what can you do to help them?
JONES:
Well, the first thing and the best thing that we can be doing is ensuring that we prevent the scams before they occur. I don't know the details yet of how that particular breach and theft has occurred in the case of the family that you're talking about, and we'll look into that over the course of the day and see what can be done to ensure that they have some ability to recover the monies that they've lost. But the number one thing that we can be doing is to raise awareness and improve protections for families and businesses. Some simple things. Some really simple things. If you're on a phone call and it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't. If you're being asked to give out incredibly personal information like your bank account details and other things, don't do it over the phone. Don't hit one of those little blue links in an email or an SMS message. High risk in doing that. There are some simple things that people can be doing and change your passwords regularly. And unless you're absolutely certain about who you're dealing with. Don't be letting somebody remote access‑
CAMPBELL:
These are all basic facts that we know about these sort of things as well. Sorry to interrupt you, Minister, but these families are really suffering here. They've lost ‑ it's coming into Christmas. The cost of living is really high. Is there anything the government is going to put on the table to try and help this family get out of this sort of trouble?
JONES:
Like I said, in the case of this particular family, a conversation needs to be had between themselves and their banks to see whether the existing codes of practice will allow the recovery of the money they're lost. Don't know the specific details, but on the face of what I've read in the media overnight, there may be some avenues there, but that's not a conclusive response. But as I said, the best thing that we can do in the case of these scams is more protective and more prevention work. Which is why this week, anti‑scam week, we're raising awareness to ensure that people are more alert to these sorts of scams. And in the case of individuals and others that you've mentioned, looking to see what measures can be put in place to recover monies that are lost, but number one, preventing it in the first place.
ADAMS:
All right, well we will hear their story and follow up a little later on in the show. Financial services Minister Stephen Jones. Thank you for your time this morning.