Tuesday, 16 June 2026: This week, CommBank met with Paul Benda, Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud and Cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association, during his visit to Australia, as part of an exchange of ideas on how countries and industries can work together to help protect consumers from scams.
Mr Benda's visit comes at a time when scammers are increasingly using artificial intelligence across social media, online platforms and telecommunications networks to target victims.
Around the world, governments, businesses and regulators are increasingly focused on how best to help prevent scams and reduce consumer harm.
In Australia, that recognition is driving a more coordinated approach to scam prevention.
James Roberts, Executive General Manager Scams & Fraud at CommBank, said collaboration across the scam ecosystem is becoming one of the most important tools in the fight against scams, supported by efforts to help consumers and businesses recognise potential scams and act before money is lost.
"Scammers don't care about industry or geographic boundaries. They move across social media, websites, telecommunications networks and financial systems. No single sector can solve this challenge alone," Mr Roberts said.
"The strongest protection for Australians comes when organisations across sectors, both domestically and internationally, work together to identify threats earlier, share intelligence and stop scams before money is lost."
A global challenge requiring a shared response
Mr Benda said scam prevention is increasingly becoming a shared challenge across industries and countries.
"What stands out in Australia is the willingness of different sectors to work together to help prevent scams before money is lost," Mr Benda said.
"There is enormous value in countries and industries learning from one another's experiences. Australia's ecosystem approach is generating interest because it recognises that no single sector can successfully tackle this challenge alone."
Sharing intelligence to stop scams sooner
One of the biggest shifts in recent years has been the increased sharing of information between organisations to help identify and disrupt scams faster.
CommBank has worked closely with organisations across banking, telecommunications, online platforms and government through initiatives such as the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange's Anti-Scam Intelligence Loop and BioCatch Trust .
These initiatives enable organisations to share information about scam phone numbers, fake websites, fraudulent advertisements, suspicious accounts and emerging scam tactics so action can be taken more quickly to help protect Australians.
CommBank was the first bank to integrate into the Anti-Scam Intelligence Loop and increased the scam intelligence it contributed by 95 per cent in the first half of FY26 compared with the prior corresponding period.
Mr Roberts said intelligence sharing is helping organisations move faster than ever before.
"The faster organisations can share actionable intelligence, the better chance we have of preventing scams before customers are impacted," he said.
Looking ahead
Australia's ecosystem approach to scam prevention continues to evolve, with the Scams Prevention Framework set to bring together sectors most commonly exploited by scammers under a coordinated framework focused on preventing scams and reducing consumer harm.
Mr Roberts said the framework represented an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration across the ecosystem.
"The Scams Prevention Framework has the potential to be world-leading in helping prevent scams from happening in the first place," Mr Roberts said.
"We've participated in industry and government discussions to help progress the framework and will continue to work constructively with government and industry participants to support its implementation."/
Mr Roberts said the framework reflects a broader shift towards preventing scams before Australians lose money.
As scammers continue to evolve their tactics, collaboration across the ecosystem remains critical.
"Ultimately, success isn't just recovering money after a scam occurs," Mr Roberts said.
"Success is stopping the scam before a customer loses money in the first place."
CommBank continues to invest heavily in scam and fraud prevention, including more than $1 billion annually to help protect customers from scams, fraud, cyber threats and financial crime.
