Australia’s ‘future sectors’ to fight crypto scams again
A consultation paper on a new framework for tackling consumer and business fraud by the Australian Treasury Department looks at applying sector-specific codes and standards to banking and cryptocurrency fraud.
The paper adds to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) efforts to combat fraud during its annual Fraud Awareness Week initiative. It also outlines Australia's plan to assign mandatory industry codes to each type of fraud.
A consultation paper on the “Proposed Fraud Code Framework” – released on November 30 by Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland – aims to delegate clear roles and responsibilities to government and private bodies when fighting fraud. “This includes ensuring that key areas in the fraud ecosystem have measures in place to prevent, detect, disrupt and respond to fraud across sectors, including the sharing of fraud information within and between sectors,” the Treasury said.
The framework offers three broad categories to assign codes and standards, covering the areas most targeted by fraudsters: banks, telecommunications providers and digital communication platforms. It also mentions a category of “Future Sectors” that addresses cryptocurrencies, intangible tokens (NFT) and related trading platforms and marketplaces.
Related: Australian Treasury proposes to regulate crypto exchanges, not tokens.
The Treasury has highlighted that Australian consumers and businesses will lose at least $3.1 billion to fraud in 2022 – an 80% increase from 2021.
The new mandatory industry codes outline the responsibilities of the private sector in relation to fraud. Currently, the National Anti-Fraud Center (NASC), led by the ACCC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and specialist support services are working together to combat fraud in Australia.
The Treasury will collect comments on the consultation until January 29, 2024.
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