Bendigo Bank warns impersonation scams may rise ahead of Federal Election

As people begin receiving more approaches, calls and texts from campaigning representatives, Australia’s most trusted bank is reminding customers that these might not be legitimate.

“Scammers may pose as government agencies, political parties and representatives, or financial institutions, using phone calls, emails, text messages or even door-knocking to trick Australians into handing over sensitive details,” Senior Manager Customer Protection at Bendigo Bank Aaron Westberry says.

“Be on the look out for anyone soliciting personal information for electoral roll updates, requesting donations, and of course, warning of fraudulent activity on your bank accounts,” he says.

“Scammers never sleep, but they’re likely to be working overtime in the lead up to 3 May, as we often see that criminals exploit things like major events or seasonal occasions, like elections, to create urgency and pressure people into making quick decisions.”

“Our message is always to Stop – Think – Protect before sharing personal details or making payments.”

1. STOP – Don’t give money or personal information to anyone if unsure. Scammers will offer to help you or ask you to verify who you are. They will pretend to be from organisations you know and trust like the Australian Electoral Commissions, police, government, or a fraud service.
2. THINK – Ask yourself could the message or call be fake? Never click a link in a message. Only contact us, businesses or government using contact information from their official website or through their secure apps. If you’re not sure, say no, hang up or delete.  
3. PROTECT – Act quickly if something feels wrong. If you notice unusual activity or if a scammer gets your money or information, report it and get support.  

Last financial year, Bendigo Bank stopped $34.4 million in fraudulent transactions, protecting customers and safeguarding systems with a variety of cyber-crime prevention methods such as unusual account detection measures, increased warnings and risk-based payment delays.

“We are continually updating protections to try to stay ahead of the scammers, but by working together with our customers, we can even further reduce the incidence of scams and fraud,” Mr Westberry says.

“Like when we recently prevented a Victorian customer from losing more than $900,000 to an impersonation scam. Our systems stopped suspicious transactions and we were able to contact the customer while they were still on the phone to the scammer and shut down a scam in action,” he says.