Depending on how old you are, you may be more susceptible to scams than other generations. It is with this in mind that Telstra is expanding its scam call protection system Scam Indicator.
It’s no secret that scammers make life frustrating for Australians, and indeed much of the rest of the world. Locally, scam-related crime results in a loss of nearly three billion dollars, and that’s just what’s reported, not to mention the lasting effects of feeling wronged on the other end of technology.
Lots of companies have been putting their heads together to work out how to tackle the issue, and Telstra has played a big part. In fact, last year it started collaborating with the Commonwealth Bank to build the “Scam Indicator” system to track scams and thwart them in the process.
Telstra’s Scam Indicator started on mobiles first, but the telco is announcing this week that it’s rolling the scam tracking and alert system to landlines, as well, and there’s a great reason why: it has the potential to help protect older generations from being scammed.
According to Telstra, more than 85 percent of residential landline services are registered to Australians over the age of 60, an issue given how older Australians are targeted by scammers. According to the ACCC, people in this age group increased in scam losses in the past year, with over $120 million lost in reports alone.
With scammers targeting mobile and landline alike, having some form of protection for both is critical, and that’s where Scam Indicator on landlines will come in.
The technology essentially links to a bank — specifically CommBank — and when a request for money is triggered or a transfer, the system indicates whether the caller may be on a call to a scammer. From there,e the bank can hold money, decline a transfer, and send alerts to the custom to warn them.
“Scammers are often bold enough to pick up the phone and talk directly with unsuspecting victims,” said James Roberts, General Manager of Group Fraud at CommBank.
“They create a sense of urgency and use impersonation tactics to often trick their target to download software that gives them remote access to their victim’s computer.”
“As an example, our teams recently used this technology to help stop an elderly customer from being scammed when she was talking to a scammer using her landline. The customer had been convinced by the scammer to download software that gave them full access to her computer and banking information,” he said.
“Scam Indicator technology allowed us to monitor the customer’s banking activity and decline around $70,000 in attempted scam transactions, so the money didn’t end up leaving the customer’s account.”
It’s worth noting the technology does only work with CommBank account holders and those using a Telstra-connected service, be it Telstra itself or one of the many Mobile Virtual Network Operators.
For those with a landline and a Commonwealth Bank account, the expansion of Scam Indicator is a positive thing, but it’s worth noting that it won’t likely catch every scam call, and mainly focuses on the ones where a financial transaction is likely to occur. Telstra has other mechanisms in place as part of its “Cleaner Pipes” program, but you still may need to tread carefully depending on the calls coming down the line.
