Banks never tire of boasting about keeping Australians safe from scams. But when they fail, victims are often left behind as they try to claw back their life savings.
The HSBC case, now in its sixth year, is the starkest proof yet.
ASIC extracted $35 million from HSBC earlier this month, a penalty for a bank that, by its own admission, failed to respond adequately to scammers impersonating its staff.
It was a sophisticated operation, with scammers spoofing HSBC’s phone number and text threads to strip millions of dollars from often vulnerable customers.
