'Scourge on society': Big four banks blast Meta over Facebook 'mule' accounts
The big banks say the social media behemoth has allowed criminals to prosper on its platforms, and urged it to thwart 'mules' who rent out their bank accounts to bad actors involved in scams.
Australia's biggest banks have called out Meta for its failure to combat financial crime, as thousands of Facebook groups actively sell and rent out 'mule' bank accounts for fraud and scams, despite the majors' appeals for it to intervene.
The big four say they are increasingly frustrated by the big tech company's refusal to shut down the illicit activity, as the banks invest hundreds of millions of dollars to protect their customers.
“Scams are a scourge on society and have a devastating financial and emotional impact," NAB group investigations executive Chris Sheehan told Capital Brief, adding that "a significant proportion of mule recruitment begins on social media platforms, including Facebook."
While scams have long used social media to target victims, banks are becoming increasingly alarmed about platforms, especially Facebook, being used by criminals to buy and sell 'mule' accounts – legitimate bank accounts sold to another party for illicit activity.
