Young Australians are the least concerned about becoming a victim of a scam or cyber-attack and believe they know how to protect themselves, yet are among the most likely to experience one, according to new NAB insights.
The report into business and consumer experiences of cybercrime found scams or cyber-attacks had impacted one in five Australians, with the average loss being $569.
While three in 10 businesses had experienced cybercrime or a data breach, their average loss was almost $20,000.
It comes as NAB today launches a new education and awareness campaign to help Australians – young and old – .
NAB Executive Group Investigations & Fraud Chris Sheehan said the internet and telecommunications networks had become a digital front door for criminals to commit scams and fraud, and more had to be done to stop the crime.
“Scammers are robbing Australians blind of their hard-earned money every day, and we need to stop the crime before it happens,” Mr Sheehan, a former senior executive, said.
“Scams often happen when people are rushing, tired or distracted.
“We want to help people see scams differently and highlight the moment where split-second decisions are made, which, as our research shows, can have devastating financial and emotional consequences.
“Educating yourself and the people around you – friends, family and colleagues – to see through scams is critical, particularly in today’s digital world. No one wants their money to end up in the hands of criminals.
“Contact your bank immediately if you’ve been scammed – we’re here to help.”
Read the story of a NAB customer who has been the victim of a scam .
NAB Economics research commissioned as part of the campaign asked consumers and businesses about their experience of cybercrime and scams, the impacts, and ways they were protecting themselves.
Only 16% of men aged 18 to 29 were concerned about them or someone they lived with being the victim of a cyber-attack or scam.
But twice as many (34%) men that age had experienced one. One in two young men said they had good or very good knowledge of cyber security.
Approximately 18% of women aged 18 to 29 were concerned about a cyber-attack or scam, while 38% had been the victim of one. A third of young women said they had good or very good cyber safety awareness.
Mr Sheehan said a “Team Australia” approach across business sectors, governments and the community was urgently needed to reduce the impact of the growing global problem.
“NAB has more than 60 projects underway across the bank to help address the impacts of scams and fraud,” he said.
“Making it and text message threads and so customers can identify potential scams are among some of the recent initiatives.
“We’ve also added 50 people to the Scams and Fraud team since October so customers can speak to someone faster.
“We will always make every attempt to prevent scams and recover funds where possible. However, once the funds have left a victim’s account, it can often be difficult to recover them due to the sophistication and speed of these criminals.”
NAB runs free monthly security webinars, with the next session coming up on and .
Anyone interested can sign-up at .
We also post the latest scam alerts on its , while customer education material is shared across platforms including in-app messaging, , and email.
