In the past four months, National Australia Bank (NAB) has blocked more than A$270 million (about $184 million) in payments from customers who raised fraud concerns, according to a July 17 report. That’s what I’m talking about. statement.
NAB Blocks Payments to “High-Risk” Crypto Exchanges
NAB has announced that it has suspended undisclosed trading volumes to its cryptocurrency platform, which was rife with fraud from March to July. The bank did not disclose the name of the exchange.
NAB cited a recent 30-day report to the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, claiming that 50% of frauds reported to the agency involved cryptocurrencies.
Chris Sheehan, group investigative and fraud executive at NAB, said the scammers used cryptocurrency platforms to transfer these stolen funds abroad.
Last year, Australians lost more than A$221 million, or $150 million, to cryptocurrency fraud, making this type of fraud one of the fastest growing threats in the country. .
Other Australian banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ and Westpac, have recently taken similar steps. Crypto advocacy group Blockchain Australia has expressed concern that such restrictions could hamper the growth of the country’s crypto industry.
Meanwhile, Australia is not the only country working to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies by malicious players. Belarus is working to enact a law banning cryptocurrency trading outside of regulated exchanges to combat cybercrime.
NAB introduces other customer protection measures
Meanwhile, NAB said it had introduced new measures within the past six months to better protect its customers.
The bank said some of its measures include introducing payment reminders, blocking the use of links in suspicious text messages, and combating impersonation.
These measures have had the desired effect, with about 12% of payments abandoned due to real-time payment prompts. This prompt appears when the transaction is not specific to the user’s activity and is intended to give the customer time to confirm before confirming.
The bank said 12% of its customers were satisfied with measures to protect themselves against fraud, despite slowing transaction speeds.
An article about National Australia Bank blocking millions of cryptocurrency transactions due to fraud concerns first appeared on CryptoSlate.
