Australian Banks Flag Over $60 Million in Suspected Fraud as Intelligence Network Expands

Australian financial institutions identified more than $60 million in suspected fraud attempts in the third quarter of 2025, according to new results from BioCatch Trust Australia, a real-time intelligence-sharing network launched in late 2024.

Between July and September 2025, the network analysed more than 180 million payments worth over $330 billion, covering more than 85% of the country's banked population. BioCatch executives say the system can retrieve a risk profile for the receiving account in over 70% of transactions. "When the network makes that match, its signals now detect better than 70% of social-engineering scam payments," said Tim Dalgleish, SVP of Emerging Solutions and Network.

The accompanying "2025 Digital Banking Fraud Trends in Australia" report shows a mixed landscape. Money-mule activity fell 20% at participating institutions, yet attempts at account takeover grew 47% year-on-year and more than doubled in the past six months. Phone and purchase scams remained the most prevalent. Investment-fraud cases declined overall, though incidents affecting customers aged 56 and above rose 18%.

Analysts also note that many schemes appear linked to organised groups operating across Southeast Asia. "These compounds are not fringe criminal enclaves but entrenched infrastructures that exploit governance gaps, regional passivity, and parallel financial systems," said Emerald Sage, principal intelligence advisor at OSINT Combine.

The Australian Payments Network contributed commentary, with Head of Economic Crime Toby Evans stating that rapid innovation in digital payments has outpaced existing safeguards. "Each advance brings new opportunities, but also new risks," he said. "By embedding safety into systems from the start, payments can remain innovative, secure, and resilient without forcing consumers to shoulder risk."

BioCatch Trust Australia continued expanding its membership during the year, with institutions including Macquarie Bank joining the network. Meanwhile, in a separate update, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reported removing 6,900 scam and phishing websites in the year to June 30. These included 2,800 fake investment platforms, 2,400 crypto scams, 1,400 phishing links, and 250 fraudulent ads. ASIC also added more than 1,000 entries to its Investor Alert List and issued warnings on schemes targeting retirement savings.