Online scammers are squarely in ob体育鈥檚 cross hairs with new data revealing more than 10,000 investment scam websites and online advertisements have been shut down by the agency[1].
ob体育鈥檚 latest Enforcement and regulatory update shows 10,240 of the most common sites removed include 7,227 fake investment platform scams, 1,564 phishing scam hyperlinks and 1,257 cryptocurrency investment scams.
ob体育 also commenced court action against HSBC Australia in December, alleging failures to adequately protect customers scammed out of millions of dollars. This action followed ob体育 reports into the anti-scam practices of 15 banks outside the major four, that found there was significant room for improvement.
ob体育 Deputy Chair Sarah Court said since ob体育 established its capability in 2023, the agency was helping shut down an average of 130 investment scam websites each week.
Ms Court said, 鈥楽cammers are using increasingly sophisticated technology to steal money from hard-working Australians with investment scams that can look shockingly legitimate.
鈥�This new data demonstrates that ob体育 is making Australia safer by stamping out these scams before they reach Australians.鈥�
鈥榦b体育 will continue to protect Australians from scams by removing them before they reach consumers and holding financial institutions accountable for their scam detection and response practices.'
The report also highlights that in the last six months of 2024, ob体育 increased its new investigations by 31%[2] to 109 new investigations, commenced 15 new court actions, and completed 376 surveillances. The update also reports ob体育 was successful in the majority of its civil and criminal prosecutions, securing $46.6 million in civil penalties and 13 criminal convictions.
ob体育 Chair Joe Longo said that the outcomes ob体育 had achieved over the last six months highlighted that its organisational redesign and a refreshed executive team were having positive impacts.
鈥楾he changes we have made mean ob体育 is able to more efficiently process intelligence, leading to earlier commencement of investigations and surveillances,鈥� Mr Longo said.
鈥榃e anticipate the increased number of investigations we have commenced will flow through to significant compliance, enforcement and consumer outcomes in the year ahead.
鈥楢s outlined in our 2025 Enforcement Priorities, banks, insurance companies and superannuation trustees are on notice, and we are concerned by the inconsistencies and complacency we have observed.
鈥極ur focus on the superannuation sector was underscored recently with the Government鈥檚 announcement to raise the bar on customer service by introducing mandatory and enforceable service standards.
鈥楿sing our full regulatory toolkit, we鈥檝e focused on landmark cases and compliance action that deliver financial outcomes and protect consumers and investors,鈥� Mr Longo said.
High impact enforcement and compliance activity within the report includes:
- ob体育鈥檚 action against NAB for allegedly failing 345 customers who applied for hardship support (24-254MR)
- ob体育鈥檚 action against QBE Insurance for allegedly misleading customers about pricing discounts (24-234MR)
- ob体育鈥檚 action against Cbus trustee United Super alleging delays in processing death benefits and total and permanent disability insurance claims for more than 10,000 members and claimants (24-251MR)
- ob体育鈥檚 first-of-its-kind review of bank customers on low incomes who were charged high fees, and the response by banks who will refund over $28 million dollars to customers (24-153MR).
To protect investors, ob体育 also commenced legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW alleging Regional Express Holdings Limited engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and contraventions of continuous disclosure obligations.
ob体育鈥檚 2025 enforcement priorities will continue to reflect the increased cost-of-living pressures faced by consumers and aim to prevent financial harm.
More information
- REPORT 804 ob体育 enforcement and regulatory update: July to December 2024
- ob体育鈥檚 2025 enforcement priorities
- Summary of enforcement outcomes
- Regulatory developments timetable
[1] Since ob体育 established the capability in July 2023
[2] Compared to the prior corresponding period: 2H 2023