The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission adopted the world's first legislation of its kind to help protect residents from scams and the cybercriminals behind them.
The Scams Prevention Framework Bill will require designated entities including banks, telecommunication companies, social media networks, and other digital platforms to proactively detect and disrupt scams and report scam activity. One of the rules specifically directed at social media platforms requires that they verify their advertisers, while banks must be able to identify who the payee is.
The goal of the bill is to take some of the responsibility to combat scammers away from consumers and onto the networks and platforms that host the scammers and allow the scams to take place.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said:
The financial crime type, scams, present an unacceptable threat to the Australian community and have had a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Australians. This Bill is a critical step in the fight against scams – creating overarching principles that all members of designated sectors must comply with. We know scammers will exploit weak links in the system – so these principles are key to a consistent approach.
Under the new legislation, the ACCC will closely monitor platforms' compliance with principles to prevent, detect, disrupt, respond to and report scams. Businesses that do not meet their obligations under the new framework can face fines of up to $50M.