Macquarie cautions customers over rise in scams, including those touting investments

Macquarie Bank has alerted customers to be vigilant over scams after it emerged a woman was almost duped into transferring $1m into a bogus investment.

A woman was almost duped into transferring $1m into a fake Macquarie account. Picture: Bloomberg

Macquarie Bank has told its customers scams pose a “serious problem” in 2024, as it was claimed the lender had thwarted a scammer’s attempt to trick a woman into transferring $1m under the guise of investing with Macquarie.

An email sent to Macquarie customers over the weekend, and obtained by The Australian, said: “We’re sharing our latest insights on which scams are on the rise and how to stay protected, plus tips and resources so you always know what to look out for.”

Macquarie’s email also cautioned that scammers were increasingly operating on resale sites such as Facebook Marketplace targeting buyers and sellers of goods.

“They may ask to move your conversation to a different platform, tell you that they’ve overpaid you and are requesting a refund, ask that you pay their shipping costs upfront, or want to use an unusual payment method such as gift cards or cryptocurrencies,” the email said.

The fresh warning comes after scams cost Australians $2.74bn last year and more than 601,000 scam reports were made, analysis by the competition regulator found. That reflected an 18.5 per cent jump in scam reports compared to 2022, despite a drop in the dollar figure lost.

A poster on Reddit, a network of online communities, late last week wrote that their retired mother-in-law was in contact with a person claiming to be a broker who was advising her to invest $1m with Macquarie’s private bank, in the form of a bond.

When the poster conducted their own research, the broker’s Australian Business Number was fake and there was no record of the company. Inquiries and a call with Macquarie ascertained that the woman was being targeted by scammers, and the transfer was stopped.

A Macquarie spokeswoman on Monday said that, without the customer’s details, the bank was not able to verify if this was a legitimate case.

Macquarie’s security and fraud website details a string of instances where scammers have impersonated the bank, including as recently as last month, and in March, when they targeted customers with calls and emails about fake term-deposit investments.

The big four banks and Macquarie are clamping down on scams and informing customers of ways to be alert, given how rampant scams have become across ­financial services.

Scams will be top of mind again this week, when a trans-Tasman delegation of government ministers and banking and security executives attend a series of meetings in Singapore. The meetings are aimed at addressing the rising wave of scam operations in Southeast Asia targeting Australians and New Zealanders and establishing improved government links and shared intelligence.

Federal Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones is leading the delegation as the government pursues greater partnerships within Asia.

The meetings centre on fact sharing between Australia, New Zealand and Singapore covering scam trends and insights and other topics, including Australian innovations in anti-scam technology and Singapore’s strategies to disrupt scams from social media and search engines.

Macquarie’s email to customers urged them to be vigilant as scams evolved.

The email said impersonation scams were on the rise. This is where criminals typically used a phone call or email to pressure customers with an urgent request to complete an action through an emailed or text-message link.

Macquarie also noted that remote access scams through unsolicited contact were increasingly an issue. “They create a sense of urgency and request access to your computer or mobile phone and ask you to log into your bank account, make payments, or confirm security codes.”