NAB today welcomed the passing of the Government’s Scam Prevention Framework (SPF) legislation as a positive step to better protect Australian consumers and businesses.

NAB Chief Financial Crime Risk Officer Paul Jevtovic said: “What makes Australia’s Scam Prevention Framework world-leading is a laser focus on prevention and stopping the crime from occurring in the first place. We need to shut Australia’s door on the criminals.

“Scams are a global epidemic and this legislation will help the fight to better protect Australians and make our country a much harder place for these criminals to target.

“Banks can’t stop dodgy text messages, impersonation phone calls or bogus investment schemes on social media, the same way telcos or social media platforms can’t put added measures around payments.

“Working together and lifting measures across these sectors we can have a much greater impact on driving scammers out of Australia.

“We look forward to continued consultation with Government and regulators on the establishment of SPF rules and the industry codes.”