In an Australian banking first, NAB is banning links in unexpected texts to customers.

NAB's 64 projects to combat the global scam epidemic are the latest.

It follows NAB's collaboration with telecoms to stop criminals from infiltrating phone numbers and spoofing scams. It immediately reduced NAB-branded spoofing scams by 29% this year.

NAB CEO Ross McEwan said the bank was 95% done removing links from unexpected text messages and planned to finish by July.

Mr. McEwan said, “Our aim is to make it as simple as we can for customers to know whether a NAB message is legitimate.”

Avoid clicking links. Avoid clicking on NAB-looking text messages with links.

“We want to make it hard for these criminals to steal money from hard-working Australians.”

Last year, NAB sent 112 million text messages to customers, many of which contained links to notify customers of things like overdrawn accounts or new debit cards.

Text message links have been replaced with advice to call the bank, visit Internet Banking or the NAB App, or visit the bank's website.

Scams needed a "Team Australia" approach from business, government, and the community, Mr. McEwan said.

The National Anti-Scam Centre and SMS registry are welcome government initiatives. "Singapore has a similar SMS registry and it's proved an important step, so I look forwards to seeing it implemented here in Australia," Mr. McEwan said.

“Spoofing and proactive payments alerts in digital banking have yielded positive results, and we won’t stop there.

While we're doing our best, these scammers are part of transnational, organised crime gangs and will always find new ways to steal.

“That’s why we keep urging Australians to stay alert, curious, and educated.”

NAB advises scam victims to contact their bank and Scamwatch immediately.

If you receive an unexpected payment request, pause before clicking and paying.

• NAB will never ask you to confirm, update or disclose personal or banking details via a link in a text message.  

• NAB will never ask you to click a link to log in to Internet Banking or NAB Connect.

• NAB will never ask you to transfer money into another account to keep it safe. 

• NAB will never ask you for access to your computer or online bank accounts.

NAB monitors customer accounts 24/7 for suspicious activity and has added more than 50 scam and fraud team members since October 2022 to help customers faster. The bank offers free and discounted anti-virus software from leading providers and free monthly webinars to Australians.

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