Major bank reveals new tactic to fight massive amounts lost to scam texts each year

NAB said the move has already seen a drastic drop in the number of scams reported and has warned Aussies to remain vigilant.

The major bank has already seen a 29 per cent drop in NAB-branded spoofing scams so far this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

A major bank is cracking down on scammers by halting the use of links in text messages sent to customers.

NAB said the move would help fight the “global scam epidemic”, stopping criminals from infiltrating phone numbers and conducting spoofing scams.

Since its implementation earlier this year, the initiative has already seen a 29 per cent drop in reports of NAB-branded spoofing scams in 2023.

The major bank has already seen a 29 per cent drop in NAB-branded spoofing scams so far this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said the process would make it easier for customers to determine whether an SMS message purporting to be from the bank was legitimate.

“We want to make it as hard as possible for these criminals to steal money from hardworking Australians,” he said.

Links in text messages will be replaced with advice directing the customer to contact NAB via phone, the app or online.

This marks a drastic change for the bank which in 2022 alone sent 112 million texts to customers, many of which contained legitimate links.

Mr McEwan has urged customers to never click on links provided in text communications from seemingly legitimate organisations. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mr McEwan has urged customers to exercise caution when receiving communications concerning unexpected payment requests from seemingly legitimate organisations.

“My advice is don’t click on a link,” he said.

“If you get an unexpected text message that looks like it’s from NAB and it contains a link, don’t click on it.”

NAB customers are reminded that the bank will never ask them about banking details via text, will never ask them to access digital banking via a link or to provide access to their bank accounts, and will never ask for money to be transferred to another account.

The bank is 95 per cent of the way through its link removal process and is expected to complete the project by the end of this month.

More than 53,000 scam texts have been reported to Scamwatch so far this year, totalling losses of more than $13 million nationally.