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The convincing email impersonation scam has included a PDF that advertises fake rates and aims to get customers to hand over their personal banking details.
Non-major bank ING has warned that there is an email impersonation scam circulating targeting its customers.
The scam involves a genuine-looking PDF that advertises fake but “attractive” term deposit rates.
The fraudulent document, which includes ING’s correct ABN and ACL, uses what appears to be similar branding, formatting, and colours to that of the non-major bank’s advertisements and promotional material.
The bank has warned that the email encourages customers to call a number to find out more about the term deposit rates. However, the phone number is not legitimate and connects to someone impersonating an ING representative. It is at this point that personal banking details are unwittingly handed over and the person falls victim to a scam.
An ING spokesperson stated that any customers who have received this term deposit scam should delete the email and PDF.
“This is a reminder that scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, are targeting multiple industries and are happening more frequently,” a spokesperson said.
The bank also advised those who had been impacted by this scam or others previously or have questions regarding possible unusual activity on their accounts to call the “dedicated ING scams line on 1800 052 743”.
“We encourage customers to visit ING.com.au/scams for regular updates on scams and how they can protect themselves. Customers can also report scams, including this one, through this page,” the spokesperson added.
Scam activity targeting the financial services industry has been building in the past few years. Earlier this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed that a record $3.1 billion was lost to scams in 2022, with bank impersonation scams – including those relating to loans – a prevalent trend.
The ACCC’s report found impersonation scams were becoming increasingly sophisticated, successfully tricking consumers into providing personal information such as banking and driver’s licence details or transferring money.
The commission’s Scamwatch received over 14,600 reports about bank impersonations in 2022, resulting in more than $20 million reported lost, with over 90 of those reporters losing between $40,000 and $800,000.
In July, major bank chiefs were called before a House of Representatives standing committee on economics and questioned regarding what needed to be done to prevent fraudulent actors and how to best fight scams.
The broad consensus was that Australia needed to do a “better job on education”, according to NAB boss Ross McEwan, stating that “what we need is a big Australia moment”.
It came after ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott also declared an improvement in scam education was needed as the banks were already “investing in more technology to stop scams and to detect them”.
[Related: Bank impersonation among top scam trends: ACCC]
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