Australia risks losing AUD 1.7 billion to Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams by 2028
By Trent Gunthorpe (pictured), General Manager, Pacific, ACI Worldwide
The growing frequency and severity of financial scams in Australia threatens to erode consumer trust in the security and integrity of the nation’s financial institutions. According to the ACI Worldwide 2024 Scamscope Report, losses from Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud—one of the most prevalent scams globally—surpassed AUD1,244 million in 2023. Without swift and decisive action, these losses are expected to compound by 12% annually, surpassing AUD1,764 million by 2028.
Beyond the financial devastation they inflict, APP scams also carry a deeper cost: the rapid erosion of inherent trust in the financial systems. As fraud cases rise, so does public mistrust among individuals as well as toward financial institutions. If consumers don’t have confidence in a bank’s ability to protect their interests, they will simply opt to go elsewhere. ACI’s Scamscope report found that more than 20% of Australians affected by fraud severed ties with the bank involved, amplifying the financial and reputational damage on Australia’s financial landscape the longer these scams persist.
Scammers have started leveraging the latest technologies to increase the scale and sophistication of attacks, making the fight against APP scams harder than before. Banks and financial institutions must rethink their fraud prevention strategies and ‘tech-up’ with new solutions necessary to combat this multi-faceted threat and protect their customers.
Abusing trust for criminal gain
APP scams in Australia take many forms, from the all-too-common investment scam to phishing, romance, impersonation, fake payment sites, and more recently, payment redirection and fake invoice scams. Despite their differences, they all operate on the same principle: they exploit trust to manipulate victims into sending money to scammer-controlled accounts via the means of sophisticated social engineering.
This trust-based deception makes APP scams particularly hard to detect and combat, because victims authorise the transactions themselves – which doesn’t alert traditional fraud detection systems. Scammers further evade detection by using multiple mule accounts, making fraudulent transfers difficult and time-consuming to trace. They also target high-trust individuals, such as people with disabilities, and strike during busy periods like tax season, adding unpredictability to the fight against fraud.
Scammers have been known to exploit the immediacy of real-time transfers to steal and move funds before they can be flagged or intercepted. This further narrows the window of opportunity for financial institutions to act. In 2023, 83% of all APP scam losses in Australia came through real-time payments. By 2028, APP scam losses through real-time payments in Australia are expected to hit AUD1.547 billion, accounting for almost 88% of total scam losses.
Scammers have also begun leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the sophistication and speed of their attacks. AI-generated text, voice cloning, and deepfake videos are being used to personalise scam content, making them more convincing and nearly impossible to detect than before. AI can also generate synthetic identities that fool security checks and controls during account registration processes, allowing fraudsters to create multiple mule accounts with relative ease.
Winning the battle for trust
Australia has set a powerful example in the fight against scams, showcasing remarkable vision and progress. According to the Scamscope report, APP scams are projected to decline over the next five years, reflected in an anticipated CAGR of 7.6% from 2023-2028, significantly lower than the average CAGR of 12% across the six markets studied in the report. Strategic initiatives like the Scam-Safe Accord which foster industry-wide collaboration and intelligence sharing highlight the effectiveness of data democratisation and shared intelligence in the battle against fraud.
The impact of this shared intelligence can be amplified with AI-driven fraud management systems, which can rapidly analyse mountains of transaction data to detect anomalies or patterns that may indicate an emerging scam. These systems also enable real-time intelligence sharing with organisations across borders, enabling the finance industry to keep tabs on financial fraud as it leaves or enters Australia.
With economic uncertainty on the rise, financial stress might make consumers more susceptible to investment scams that promise quick financial returns while businesses might lower security measures to cut costs. APP scams will only become more aggressive as scammers exploit such insecurities and prey on vulnerable consumers. Financial institutions must respond decisively – leveraging AI-driven fraud detection technologies, robust authentication measures and harnessing real-time intelligence to remain ahead in the battle for trust. Because trust, like the billions of dollars lost to scammers, is far harder to recover than losing it.
