Bank transfers were the most common way scam victims parted with their cash in 2022, the report said.
The ACCC said Australia should explore measures such as the United Kingdom’s Confirmation of Payee regulation, which was introduced in 2019 and now covers most banks in the country.
Under the rules, banks are required to help customers double-check they are sending money to the right person by displaying a warning if the account details do not match up.
Cyber security expert and victim advocate Simon Smith said payee confirmation laws could have prevented thousands of scams from succeeding in Australia.
“In a modern country like Australia… it should have been done decades ago,” he said.
“It would have solved probably half the cases I deal with, because the bank would say, ‘You’re not really paying Auntie Jane,’ or, ‘You’re not really paying this business, you’re actually paying some other business.'”
Mr Smith also said banks could take more steps to educate customers before proceeding with transfers that looked suspicious.
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