Westpac launches ‘innovative’ AI questionnaire in scam fightWhile criminals siphon hundreds of millions of dollars via scams each year, one bank has launched a new defence.Blair Jackson2 min readMarch 26, 2024 - 1:11PMNCA NewsWireWestpac is launching a new AI-based anti-scam questionnaire. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy PiperBankingDon't miss out on the headlines from Banking. Followed categories will be added to My News.Westpac has introduced an AI-based questionnaire to combat the hundreds of millions of dollars siphoned from Australians through scams each year.Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the number of people who have fallen victim to a scam has decreased slightly during the past three years, to about 2.5 per cent of the population - about 514,000 people.Westpac said its team of more than 500 financial crime experts had repelled scammers from taking $400 million during the past two years.On Tuesday a new lining was added to the bank’s shield, with the launch of a questionnaire feature for online banking and in-app transactions.“This innovation is the first of its kind in Australia and will add important friction to payments deemed to have high scam risk,” Westpac chief executive Peter King said.Payments deemed suspicious will be flagged, and AI-generated questions like ‘is this an investment’ or ‘is this money going to a friend?’ will pop up.Westpac analyses the answer, and asks requisite follow-ups to compare the transaction against common scams.The bank’s chief executive said while prevention measures had led to a “considerable drop” in customer losses during the past year, fraudsters were still taking millions of dollars from customers each month.Westpac chief executive Peter King says the new questionnaire is innovative. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius PickardThe banks do not publish total scam and fraud losses themselves, instead handing figures over to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.The ACCC reports Australians lost $567m to scams in 2022, and $476m the following year.ABS data shows 35-44 year olds actually suffered the highest prevalence of scams last year, with 3.5 per cent of people in that age bracket falling victim. However, people over the age of 65 lost the most amount of money collectively to scams.In December 2023 a man was charged in Sydney for allegedly sending 17 million fake text messages, allegedly phishing for money as a fake road toll collector and Australia Post representative. Picture: NCA NewsWire via NSW PoliceBuying or selling scams are most prevalent, followed by requests for information and upfront payments.Card fraud is actually far more common than scams, the ABS data shows.About 1.8m people were card fraud victims last year - 8.7 per cent of Australians over the age of 15.The type of scams circulating is always changing. In January the alarm was raised about a scam taking a three second audio recording of a person’s voice; AI then impersonates that person and scammers target friends and family.This month Westpac is reporting emails made to appear to be from the bank which contains a link to a phishing website that will take your personal information.“Never use a link received in an email or SMS to sign into your banking,” the latest scam alert says.Originally published asWestpac launches ‘innovative’ AI questionnaire in scam fightMore related storiesBreaking NewsAussie shares tumble on Trump bloodbathUS President Donald Trump has sparked a bloodbath in global stock markets and Aussie shares were not immune on Tuesday.Read moreBusinessCracks starting to appear in Trump’s economyIf the first casualty of trade wars are markets, Donald Trump’s tariffs are a stunning form of economic self-harm.Read more