HOST:
Last year, Australians lost $2.7 billion to scammers, that figure almost $1 billion more than what it was back in 2021. Today, in an effort to bring that number down, the federal government is launching Scams Awareness Week, and we’re pleased to say Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones joins us from Canberra. Assistant Treasurer, thank you so much for your time. The government has been quite vocal about these scams, particularly in recent years. Is it getting worse?
STEPHEN JONES:
Actually, it’s coming down. Before we came into government, the number was doubling every year. In the last 12 months, we’ve seen the number drop about 13 per cent. But at numbers of $2.75 billion, that’s far too much. So, much more needs to be done. Consumer awareness is a big part of that, and that’s why we’re using this week’s Scams Awareness Week to raise consumer awareness and community awareness and get people to educate themselves and each other. But it doesn’t stand alone from the government’s anti‑scam agenda. New legislation will be introduced into parliament this year, which will significantly increase the obligations on banks, on telcos, and social media platforms to keep their customers safe. But, of course, consumers have got to do their bit as well by ensuring that they’re taking a bit more care, particularly on their online transactions.
SMITH:
And for consumers, there’s a certain amount of shame associated with this. New data shows almost all of those who report a scam don’t reveal that they lost money. That is tragic. Why do you think that is?
JONES:
Look, understandably, people feel like they’ve fallen for something, and I can understand that. But it’s really important that people do report, and that they do have conversations with their friends and families. We’ve got to get beyond this blaming‑the‑victim mentality, particularly when we understand that increasingly these scams are very sophisticated. They’re being run out of international operations, industrialised scam factories. Soon they’ll be utilising the highest levels of artificial intelligence technologies, so they’re going to be harder to detect, which is why we’ve got to do a lot to increase and improve our protections. We’re starting with those 3 sectors of the economy that I’ve talked about, but we’re going to have to move beyond that and make it a whole of economy effort.
SMITH:
And as you mentioned, banks are becoming better of catching out scammers. But I guess the responsibility still lends to consumers. We shouldn’t be complacent, should we?
JONES:
Absolutely not. There’s a lot of grey area within the law at the moment. If somebody loses money from their bank account or their credit card and it’s an unauthorised transaction, that is, they never authorise that movement of money, then compensation and reimbursement occurs. But if it’s an authorised transaction, as scams mostly are, then there’s a lot of grey area there.
So, that’s why the government is putting so much work into improving consumer awareness, improving protections right across the economy, and ensuring that we fill in and make a lot more clarity with the law about when banks, or telecommunications companies, or social media platforms are liable for the losses of their customers.
SMITH:
Well, thank you for what you’re doing today, Assistant Treasurer, and thank you for your time.