HSBC customers fight back against $6.3 million 'spoofing' scam
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In an alarming trend that has seen Australians lose millions, a sophisticated 'spoofing' scam has targeted HSBC customers, leaving many without their life savings and calling for action.
The scam, which involves fraudsters disguising their phone numbers to make their text messages appear as legitimate communications from the bank, has prompted a group of victims to demand accountability and stronger protective measures.
The scam operates by sending a text message that warns of suspicious transactions, causing the recipient to panic and call a number that connects them to a fake fraud team.
This team, complete with an HSBC on-hold message, is actually a group of scammers waiting to extract personal information and gain access to the victims' accounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has disclosed that over $6.3 million was lost to this HSBC scam in just eight months up to March 2024.
Reports to Scamwatch in 2023 indicate that HSBC customers have suffered the highest losses to bank impersonation scams.
A support group for the victims, which has grown to more than 40 members, suggested that the number of affected individuals could be much higher.
The group's leader, Sunni Wan, who herself lost close to $50,000, expressed her shock at the growing number of victims reaching out for help.
‘Every time someone reaches out to me, I'm like, “Oh my God, another one.” This is a huge matter, and it's been ongoing for 10 months,’ she said.
The loss of these funds has had a significant impact on her life, causing her to fall behind on mortgage payments and experience considerable stress.
The Melbourne resident, Mary Yu, also fell victim to the scam and lost almost $50,000 after disclosing her personal information to a representative she believed was from HSBC.
‘They gained full access into my mobile banking account and so they obviously removed my device and added their own device into it and changed the daily limits,’ she recalled.
HSBC's stance on the matter has been to refuse reimbursement for many affected customers, citing that the victims provided partial information to the scammers.
The ACCC's new National Anti-Scam Centre issued an alert in February, warning HSBC customers about the scam and confirming that it had raised concerns with the bank.
However, victims and consumer advocates argued that the response has been insufficient and that urgent action is needed to prevent further losses.
Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre, has called for HSBC to fortify its systems and for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to investigate how these spoofing messages are getting through.
‘We need to be stopping them from reaching customers and the only way we're going to do that is if business steps up and protects its own customers,’ she stated.
A spokesperson for ACMA declined to comment on ‘anti-scam compliance and enforcement matters in train’.
They shared: ‘Telcos that breach an ACMA direction to comply […] may face penalties of up to $250,000.’
The federal government has plans to introduce an SMS sender ID registry to protect businesses from being impersonated by scammers, but consumer advocates feel that these measures are not being implemented quickly enough.
HSBC has declined to comment on individual cases, maintaining that it educates its clients about security and never asks for sensitive information over the phone.
‘We will never ask them to provide their PINs, passwords or verification codes on a phone call, in response to a text message or email,’ a company spokesperson said.
Despite these assurances, the mental and financial toll on victims remains high.
The victims, led by Sunni Wan, are not only seeking answers but also demanding that HSBC acknowledge its duty of care to its customers.
They argued that the bank should be held liable for the losses incurred due to the scam.
You can learn more about this scam here:
Source: ABC News (Australia)/YouTube
Have you or someone you know been affected by a similar scam? Share your experiences in the comments below.
The scam, which involves fraudsters disguising their phone numbers to make their text messages appear as legitimate communications from the bank, has prompted a group of victims to demand accountability and stronger protective measures.
The scam operates by sending a text message that warns of suspicious transactions, causing the recipient to panic and call a number that connects them to a fake fraud team.
This team, complete with an HSBC on-hold message, is actually a group of scammers waiting to extract personal information and gain access to the victims' accounts.
HSBC customers lost $6.3 million to ‘spoofing’ scam. Image source: Shutterstock
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has disclosed that over $6.3 million was lost to this HSBC scam in just eight months up to March 2024.
Reports to Scamwatch in 2023 indicate that HSBC customers have suffered the highest losses to bank impersonation scams.
A support group for the victims, which has grown to more than 40 members, suggested that the number of affected individuals could be much higher.
The group's leader, Sunni Wan, who herself lost close to $50,000, expressed her shock at the growing number of victims reaching out for help.
‘Every time someone reaches out to me, I'm like, “Oh my God, another one.” This is a huge matter, and it's been ongoing for 10 months,’ she said.
The loss of these funds has had a significant impact on her life, causing her to fall behind on mortgage payments and experience considerable stress.
The Melbourne resident, Mary Yu, also fell victim to the scam and lost almost $50,000 after disclosing her personal information to a representative she believed was from HSBC.
‘They gained full access into my mobile banking account and so they obviously removed my device and added their own device into it and changed the daily limits,’ she recalled.
HSBC's stance on the matter has been to refuse reimbursement for many affected customers, citing that the victims provided partial information to the scammers.
The ACCC's new National Anti-Scam Centre issued an alert in February, warning HSBC customers about the scam and confirming that it had raised concerns with the bank.
However, victims and consumer advocates argued that the response has been insufficient and that urgent action is needed to prevent further losses.
Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre, has called for HSBC to fortify its systems and for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to investigate how these spoofing messages are getting through.
‘We need to be stopping them from reaching customers and the only way we're going to do that is if business steps up and protects its own customers,’ she stated.
A spokesperson for ACMA declined to comment on ‘anti-scam compliance and enforcement matters in train’.
They shared: ‘Telcos that breach an ACMA direction to comply […] may face penalties of up to $250,000.’
The federal government has plans to introduce an SMS sender ID registry to protect businesses from being impersonated by scammers, but consumer advocates feel that these measures are not being implemented quickly enough.
HSBC has declined to comment on individual cases, maintaining that it educates its clients about security and never asks for sensitive information over the phone.
‘We will never ask them to provide their PINs, passwords or verification codes on a phone call, in response to a text message or email,’ a company spokesperson said.
Despite these assurances, the mental and financial toll on victims remains high.
The victims, led by Sunni Wan, are not only seeking answers but also demanding that HSBC acknowledge its duty of care to its customers.
They argued that the bank should be held liable for the losses incurred due to the scam.
You can learn more about this scam here:
Source: ABC News (Australia)/YouTube
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