In its latest move to stop scammers, Westpac is to introduce SafeBlock, a new feature that allows customers to block their accounts and cards in an instant via the app or online banking.
Australians lost over $2 billion to scams last year according to the latest report from the National Anti-Scam Centre.
Westpac’s group executive, customer & corporate services, Carolyn McCann describes SafeBlock as a "break-glass emergency option" for customers.
She says: “From experience, we know that scammers strike when we are at our busiest, often catching out unsuspecting customers. With SafeBlock, if a customer suspects they have been scammed, they will be able to immediately block their accounts in the app, preventing any further damage.”
SafeBlock is the latest in a series of initiatives by the bank to protect customers from scammers, joining other initiatives such as SafeCall, SaferPay and Verify. its arrival comes days after social media giant, Meta confirmed it has run over 230,000 scam ads on its platforms since 2019 using images of mining boss Andrew Forrest to spruik fake investment opportunities.
“Scammers are always evolving and we keep seeing new variants on the scams. The top ones remain investment scams - they’re still the number one scam in town in terms of dollar loss,” says the bank’s head of fraud prevention, Ben Young. “Remote access scams are hugely popular, that’s when someone offers to take control of your computer to ‘help you’ and we’re seeing lots of buying and selling scams on social media sites.”