What’s in It for Victims?

Australia’s scams-fighting framework bill has passed, but the real challenge lies ahead. The legislation sets the foundation for industry-wide action against fraud by banks, telecoms and tech firms, but it leaves consumers with limited protections.

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Experts warn that enforcement and reimbursement mechanisms of the measure are unclear, forcing victims to navigate a complex system with little guarantee of compensation.

“The problem and the gaping hole that we see with the framework is that when a scam does make it through the prevention measures, so when they have failed, it is still going to be an uphill battle for a scam victim to seek any redress,” said Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre.

“We were hoping to see a simple, fast, accessible way that a consumer can once again access a level of compensation. But what is framed up in the framework, a lot is still yet to be developed in the codes, and the rules that hang off of the framework.”

The measure creates incentives for companies to enhance their fraud prevention strategies, and other revisions in the bill “can help to get us to the right place,” said Rhonda Luo, head of strategy and engagement at the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange.

“It encourages industry to meet current best practices in preventing scams and responding to victims,” she said. “It hopefully sets up the right incentives for the companies to look for other ways of responding to scams as scams evolve.”

But implementation could prove difficult given the fragmented responsibilities across banks, telecoms and digital platforms, said Ken Palla, a retired director at MUFG Union Bank. “I think it will be tricky in my mind because you are going to have to look at banks and the digital platforms and the telecoms, and they are all separate. And so what they are going to be required to do is going to be separate, although there are some overarching things that they have to do,” Palla said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, the panelists also discussed:

• Why the Australian bill offers limited consumer protections;
• How industry incentives could drive better scam prevention strategies;
• The challenges of coordinating banks, telecoms and digital platforms to fight scams.

Tonkin, who leads the Consumer Action Law Centre, also is an advisory board member of the National Anti-Scams Centre.

Palla helped shape the initial responses to the U.S. 2005 and 2011 FFIEC Regulatory Guidance to improve online security for U.S. banks and was an adviser to the RSA Conference eFraud Global Forum. He previously served as a member of the program committee for the annual RSA Conference in San Francisco.

Luo oversees strategy and engagement at the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, leading AFCX’s collaboration with the National Anti-Scams Centre on scams intelligence and insights. Prior to the AFCX, Luo led policy and advocacy on scams, payments, digital ID and other digital banking matters for the Australian Banking Association.