ABA CEO Anna Bligh on romance scams: transcript of interview on Today Show

Karl Stefanovic (Host): Well, with Aussies losing more than $20 million to romance scams last year, that’s right, $20 million. Banks are now warning people to be extra cautious when looking for love online to discuss

Sarah Abo (Host): We are joined now by CEO of the Australian Banking Association, Anna Bligh, good to see you this morning. So, we know that scams have been around for years, but I guess now, with the rise of AI and deep fake technology, it sort of makes scams a bit harder to detect right?

Anna Bligh (Guest): You’re absolutely right. Criminals have been trying to cheat people out of their money for centuries, but now they have technology that is getting smarter and more sophisticated, so it’s easier to put on a fake image of someone. It’s much easier to use things like chatbots to have a conversation, and for ordinary people, that can look very real.

So, it is important when you’re online looking for love, and let’s face it, dating apps are part of Modern Romance these days, you just need to be extra, extra careful, because we know that those criminals who want to get into your bank account are using those dating apps to get there.

Karl Stefanovic: Well, the bots are so real, and a lot of people get very confused by it all and get hoodwinked. What are some of the red flags?

Anna Bligh: Look there are some red flags if you’ve got, if you’re confronted with someone who’s got perfect photos, absolutely flawless images. If they’re making repetitive answers to your questions, this could be a chatbot, and particularly if they start pressuring you about money or your bank details. This is not romance, this is not how romantic relationships play out normally. So, if someone starts with very emotional stories pressuring you about money, just take a step back, you might end up with a lot more than a broken heart, you might end up with a very broken bank account.

Sarah Abo: Andthat’s the issue. I mean, what you touch on there. It’s an emotional experience as well for these victims, and they end up with serious emotional distress, a lot of them. You’re looking at it from the banking side, of course. But what should people do if they think they’ve been targeted? Where should they turn?

Anna Bligh: You’re absolutely right. Being scammed is not only very financially damaging to your wellbeing, it can be very emotionally damaging to be scammed by anything any time. But when it’s a romance scam, where you’ve actually lost your heart to someone, it can be very emotionally distressing, and it can also feel very embarrassing that you’ve fallen for something.

I encourage people, no matter what it is, if you’re just even the slightest bit suspicious, contact your bank as soon as you can. AI is a double-edged sword, criminals can use it for the wrong thing. Banks are increasingly using it to share intelligence in real time and to be able to better recover funds when you have sent it to the wrong place. So the faster you get to your bank, the more likely it is that they will be able to, firstly, get your money back and protect you from more money leaving your account, but secondly, they can share that information with other banks so that other people don’t have to go through the same pain.

Karl Stefanovic: Anna, we loving a rate cut this month or what?

Anna Bligh: Well,I’m not going to speculate on the RBA, but I think I can say that every Australian with a mortgage will be very very happy if they start to move down.

Karl Stefanovic: Oh c’mon Anna, give us a parting comment before you leave?

Anna Bligh:  I can tell you that I think it’s now up to 94 per cent of all economists are predicting a rate cut, so, that feels pretty positive to me, but let’s wait and see.

Karl Stefanovic: Good on you Anna.

Contact: Benn Ayre | [email protected] | 0428 342 325
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