Under-40s are more likely to fall victim to online fraud, ANZ data shows
Analysis of ANZ customer data has revealed that younger Kiwis are more likely to fall victim to email or text phishing scams that target their digital banking, whereas retirees are more likely to fall victim to scams that start with a call to a landline.
Nearly two in three (60%) digital banking phishing victims were under the age of 40, with the fraud originating from a text message in many cases, the ANZ data showed.
Read more: Kiwibank hires more scam investigators
“It’s a reminder that any of us can fall victim to a scam,” said Natasha McFlinn, ANZ senior manager for fraud strategy. “We all use technology in different ways and the way we interact online now means personal information like email addresses, mobile phone numbers, and social media account details are often publicly available. While this type of information would be insufficient by itself to access a customer’s banking, it is the type of information that can be used by scammers to target individuals.”
The data also revealed that 45% of the victims of cold call and remote access scams were aged 70 and up. A quarter of all scams involved customers who were 70 years or older and another 25% involved victims aged between 55 and 70 years old.
Read next: Westpac sounds alarm over Whatsapp scam
ANZ has also seen a 72% rise in cases of card fraud compared to the same period the prior year, with more than 35,000 cases reported.
“Often the fraudsters pretend to be from legitimate and well-known companies like banks, telcos, and government departments,” McFlinn said. “You’d be amazed at how convincing they can be. They win people over and convince them to give them their card details. They’ll often start with a phishing attack and then follow up with a phone call. The phone call seems extra convincing because they already have information about the customer from the previous attack.”
Even without the physical card, fraudsters sometimes use customer’s details, such as their card number, card expiry, PIN, CVV number, and two-factor authentication codes to commit fraud. They obtain these details through data breaches, phishing, skimming, or scams.
“Where a customer reports to us that they have lost money to a scam we will make every effort to recover funds,” McFlinn said. “However, the speed that transactions often move, combined with the fact that fraudsters will generally remove funds as soon as they hit the recipient account, means this can be very difficult.”
That is why ANZ is urging customers to remain vigilant, be alert to scams, and careful with their private information.
“It is not a good idea to write passwords or other sensitive information down or share it with anyone, including family members and friends,” McFlinn said. “It’s really important to make sure you protect your bank cards by only using them in places you trust, whether that is online or in the real world. People should also avoid saving their details on websites or browsers; as well as making sure you don’t leave them somewhere the cards or the information on them can be stolen.”
Ben Kelleher, ANZ managing director for personal banking, said people should not feel embarrassed or ashamed if they have been scammed.
“It’s really important to let us know if you think you have been the victim of a scam, or if you spot anything that seems suspicious,” Kelleher said.
In the 12 months to September, scam incidents reported to ANZ rose 19% compared to the previous financial year.
Despite the rise in incidents, ANZ said its customer protection team increased the amount of fraud it prevented or detected by 45%. This meant the amount of money lost by customers was at the same level as the previous year.
Kelleher said the bank has provided a dedicated fraud team, which reviews banking activity around the clock for anything potentially suspicious or fraudulent, with more resources.
“We have expanded our team by 25% in the past year and will soon be implementing new technology that will enable us to automate our fraud alerts so they can be resolved more quickly,” he said.
ANZ is now implementing a new system where it sends an alert to the customer if it spots a suspicious transaction. The customer could respond with a “Y” if they made the transaction and “N” if they didn’t.
ANZ has released the data as part of Fraud Awareness Week, a global effort to minimise the impact of fraud by promoting fraud awareness and education.
