Ever since the start of 2024, the number of people using the services of CBA has been targeted for money theft more than ever. Money thievery occurs every day, and it’s not something we could just casually write off as something that only happens to others.

In order to stay safe, you have to be up-to-date with the latest news, events, and prevalent scam methods. Today’s article addresses the Commonwealth Bank scam and the steps you can take to protect and recover your lost capital.

What is the Commonwealth Bank?

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), simply known as CommBank, is a global banking institution with branches around the world. Their offices are established in New Zealand, the USA, the UK and Asia. 

The multinational bank caters to both retail and institutional clients with services such as loans, insurance, superannuation, and even broking services. 

As of 2015, CommBank has been listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as the largest company which is also over a hundred years old and, therefore, sports good tradition, millions of customers and quality service.

History of CBA

This banking institution was established on December 22, 1911, as a government bank that conducted both savings and general banking business. During the next several years, the bank opened offices across Australia, including Melbourne and other states. 

During the turmoil caused by the Great Depression and the world wars, this institution went through changes but still held its reputable position. During the 1960s and 1970s, the bank expanded its business to insurance services and travel, as well as international banking and currency trading.

In 1996, the bank was fully privatized, and in 2000, it was merged with Colonial Limited. As the business expanded, the bank established business connections with Chinese banks and other institutions. 

One of the biggest scams ever was set up by this institution itself, which was discovered in 2018. Apparently, the bank charged deceased people for financial advice. The scandal was settled with a $25 million fine imposed by ASIC.

Types of Bank Scams

Bank fraud should be taken extremely seriously. Weak awareness and safety precautions could lead you to lose your entire life savings through fake wire transfers or other predatory actions. 

There are many types of trickery that belong to the group of bank scams. Please read the following lines carefully in order to stay informed and able to recognize the most frequently occurring ones.

Phishing Scam

One of the most convincing and widely spread types of financial trickery is phishing attempts. These usually take the form of malicious emails that appear to be sent by a trustworthy source, in this case, CBA. 

Senders appeal to their targets to click on the link in the email, which then demands that the targets enter their sensitive information so the fraudsters can take over their bank accounts. Once cons acquire your personal details, such as banking passwords, they can access your funds and efficiently empty your bank account. 

Just recently, a CBA customer lost more than $18.000 to one such scam. A series of similar cases has caused the CBA to publish an article about the recently popular SMS phishing scam attempt and urged clients to be cautious. 

Wire Transfer Fraud

Bank transfer fraud happens when cyber thieves contact their victims and ask them to wire them funds under various false pretenses. Perpetrators are extremely convincing. They can impersonate anyone you trust – a family member, a company chief executive or a government agency. 

Usually, what makes tactics especially efficient is the fact they involve the element of urging their targets to finalize the transaction. Fake check scam is the most common example of being defrauded that way. In the process, victims don’t have enough time to think through the action they’re about to take.

At one point, Xoom (a money transfer service later bought by PayPal) lost more than $30 million to a wire fraud. Cons tricked the employee into wiring cash to a fake bank account. The fiasco was conducted under the pretense of the company CEO being the one who was asking for cash.

Credit Card Fraud

Tightly related to identity theft, a credit card scam occurs when deceivers attempt to acquire victims’ credit card details to steal funds. This remains the most prevalent type of financial treachery. During 2023, the number of Americans falling victim to credit card fraud rose to more than 150 million.

The swindlers either use the stolen data to open a new card in their victim’s name, which is an application duplicity. Identity theft schemes and fake websites acquire this data and sell it to cyber criminals – that’s how they acquire the info they need.

Another type of such imposture happens when financial cons use the personal information of their victims to simply access their funds. In a matter of minutes, they can transfer the stolen capital to their own accounts or spend them on online purchases or similar. 

How to Report a Scam to Commonwealth Bank?

Aside from the most frequent types of scam, the CBA website has a special section dedicated to informing users of many other scam attempts besides wire transfer fraud. 

Exhaustive content of the web articles also proposes various ways of protecting yourself with additional layers of security, such as multiple authentication factors and other strategies. There’s also informative inputs on how to recognize various types of unscrupulous attempts and report them.

The web presentation features a detailed instruction on the available ways of contacting CommBank in case you were scammed via bank transfer, for example. People losing their funds can message the bank via the app about it. 

Jeopardized funds can be reported by users instantaneously calling their bank directly at 13 2221 or 13 2339 if they’re CommBiz customers. Lastly, clients can also email [email protected] to report the fraudulent action via email.

Is There a Way to Get My Money Back?

As we always tend to emphasize, prevention is the best cure. Therefore, taking proper care of your funds, being aware of greedy individuals who want to rob you, and protecting yourself are the best strategies to avoid falling victim. 

However, as careful as we can be, con artists keep perfecting their methods and becoming more convincing by the day. That’s why you should know there are still ways to retrieve funds even when you lose them to financial swindlers. 

Our recovery experts are always at your disposal. You can book a free consultation with our chargeback professionals, who specialize in fund recovery, so do not hesitate to contact us at your convenience.