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Banks Demand Social Media Fight Scams
11 Dec, 2025
Summary
- Westpac spent over A$500 million in five years on scam prevention.
- Scammers use AI-generated images of famous people for fake investments.
- Banks want social media firms like Meta to take more responsibility.
Westpac Banking Corp is calling for enhanced action from social media companies, including Meta, to combat the escalating issue of online scams. Chief Executive Anthony Miller emphasized that financial institutions alone cannot effectively address this growing threat to consumers.
Miller revealed that Westpac has allocated more than A$500 million over the last five years to bolster scam and fraud prevention measures. These investments encompass advanced detection tools and customer protection systems, which have recently contributed to a 21% reduction in scam losses and prevented over A$360 million in customer losses.
Australian banks are increasingly advocating for greater accountability from digital platforms, highlighting that much of the fraudulent activity stems from social media and messaging applications. Efforts are underway, such as Meta's removal of thousands of deceptive 'celeb bait' scam ads, yet a more robust ecosystem-wide approach is deemed necessary to safeguard consumers from sophisticated scams often employing AI-generated content.
