CBA and Telstra join forces to bust scam calls

Australia’s biggest bank and telecommunications company have joined forces to create a scam detection and prevention tool they say could reduce how much customers lose by up to $20 million a year.

The “Scam Indicator”, which will be piloted over the next few months, is aimed at protecting Commonwealth Bank and Telstra customers from phone scams where criminals try to trick people into transferring them large amounts of money.

CBA boss Matt Comyn said while he was unable to reveal too many details about the program because that could aid the scammers, the initiative was designed to improve early detection and prevention of scams.

“We have been working with Telstra to produce a machine-learning scams detection model, the first in a number of exciting initiatives from this partnership,” he said.

“We acknowledge that there is more to do given the rising volume and fast changing nature of scams.”

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The Scam Indicator, currently in its proof-of-concept stage, is designed to detect high-risk scam situations in real time, allowing CBA to call on Telstra to check if a customer is on a phone call. CBA can then contact the affected customer or put in additional checks, including delaying, blocking or interrupting transactions, as well as sending a notification into the customer’s banking app.

The initiative comes as financial losses from scams are expected to double to $4 billion this year, and companies and government look to crack down on the issue. So far this year, Australians have lost nearly $100 million according to Scamwatch.

While Telstra has a long-standing relationship with CBA, the telco’s chief executive Vicki Brady said collaboration with other companies was key in addressing the increasing sophistication of scam attacks.