Australia flags major fines for companies failing to protect customers from scams

Canberra : The Australian government has announced plans to issue fines worth millions of dollars to companies that fail to protect customers from scams.

On Friday, Stephen Jones, the assistant treasurer, released details of the government's proposed new laws, that would force banks, telecommunications companies and technology giants to do more to protect customers under mandatory sector-specific codes.

The codes will create new obligations for designated sectors to combat scammers and protect Australians, Xinhua news agency reported.

Companies in those sectors that fail to meet their obligations will face fines worth up to $33.6 million.

Under the laws, the government will initially designate banks, telecommunication service providers and a range of digital platform services related to social media, paid search engine advertising and direct messaging services as the affected sectors.

"We want to ensure that the best protections anywhere in the world are available to people here in Australia," Jones said in a statement.

"Australians are losing too much money to scams and while we've bucked the international trend where scams are doubling yearly, losses are still far too much."

Scam victims will be entitled to seek compensation from a bank, digital platform or telecommunications company by taking their case to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Banks would have to report a scam to authorities as soon as they learn of it and attempt to stop payments.

A report published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in April revealed that Australians reported losing $1.84 billion to scams in 2023.