By Stephanie Tonkin, CEO Consumer Action Law Centre (published in the Herald Sun, 18 March 2024) Last week, Scamwatch, our national body fighting scams and part of the Australian Competition and Co...
Tim Watkins, Sarah Gerendasi, James Green, and Nina Merrilees were robbed of thousands of dollars by scammers. They are travelling to Canberra today to share their stories at the launch of the new Par...
A coalition of advocacy groups, including Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, have come out forcefully stating that customer reimbursement, pa...
Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network have been conducting regular roundtables with scams victims and consumer organisations, to develop our resp...
The mandatory Code for Scams consultation paper announced by the Federal Treasury today sets out some proposals to tackle the scams crisis, however the final regulation must land on clearer stipulated...
Consumer Action, Financial Rights and CHOICE are calling on the banking industry to do more to prevent scams, as increasing losses are having a devastating impact on individuals and the Australian eco...
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has revealed that consumers in dispute with financial firms lodged a record 96,987 complaints in the past 12 months, an unprecedented rise of 34 pe...
Tania Clarke, Acting CEO Consumer Action Law Centre Last year bank customers in the UK experienced a 17% drop in scam losses while in Australia, bank customers experienced a 62% increase. Between...
In a world first, the UK Parliament this week passed legislation that will protect banking customers from the losses they experience as a direct result of being tricked by scammers. British banks a...
Consumer Action CEO Stephanie Tonkin has welcomed the extra funding announced in the Federal Budget for the Anti-Scam Centre, saying it’s a first step in the right direction, but deep concerns remain...
Scammers are targeting Australians online with highly sophisticated scams, stealing $billions from ordinary families and businesses every year -and it’s getting worse! That’s the message from the Aust...
By Stephanie Tonkin, CEO, Consumer Action Law Centre The big four banks are tipped to make record profits this financial year, with some analysts suggesting they will collectively rake in more th...
Consumer Action CEO Stephanie Tonkin says Westpac’s announcement of a new verification system for payments and money transfer measures to new accounts are “…steps in the right direction to help stop t...
An edited version of this opinion piece appeared in the Herald Sun 18 February, 2023 You’d be hard-pressed these days to find someone who hasn’t been the target of a scam. Whether it’s a fraudulent...
Australia’s banks should quickly introduce measures to stop scams, make their systems safer and reimburse victims or be made by Government to do so, says Consumer Action CEO Stephanie Tonkin. Ms Tonk...
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has announced it is introducing measures to strengthen its payment system that will make it harder for crooks to scam their customers. The measures called NameCheck and Cal...
Opinion piece by Gerard Brody, CEO Consumer Action The massive data breach affecting up to 9.8 million Optus customers has shone a spotlight on what can be done to protect Australians from harm and...
Online and telephone scams targeting Australians are now at crisis levels and victims will continue to bear the burden of financial losses, which will only get worse without urgent action from governm...
Australia’s banks can do much more to stop the plague of scams that is destroying families and costing the economy more than $2 billion annually. That’s the message from consumer advocates in response...
Consumer Action is calling for meaningful protections from scams to apply to businesses operating in the crypto sector. The call comes in a submission to the Treasury’s consultation paper Crypto as...
Today is World Consumer Rights Day, which this year focuses on the need for fairer digital finance for all, including better protection from online scammers. New analysis from Consumer Action reveals...
The Treasurer’s proposed transformation of the regulation of payment systems is an opportunity to embed financial safety, and ensure protections are built in from the outset says Consumer Action's CEO...
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s announcement today that the Government intends to reform Australia’s payment systems is a real opportunity to improve consumer protection, according to Consumer Action Law...
Consumer advocates are calling on the Victorian Government to commit to a free and effective dispute resolution service for Victorians who are sold ‘lemon’ cars by car dealers in next year’s Budget....
Opinion piece by Gerard Brody, CEO Consumer Action. If there is one thing that changed about our lives from COVID-19, it’s the dramatic shift to online communication and shopping. According to the...
Opinion piece by Gerard Brody, CEO Consumer Action As more and more people contact Consumer Action Law Centre regarding scam losses, and increasingly large losses, I've been thinking about the adequa...
We’ve had reports of scammers falsely using Consumer Action’s name to obtain money and banking details from their victims. Consumer Action is not responsible for these calls. We will never ask for mon...