THE HON STEPHEN JONES MP
ASSISTANT TREASURER
MINISTER FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES
MEMBER FOR WHITLAM
The Albanese Government has today launched the cutting edge National Anti-Scams Centre (NASC) - the first line of defence in the fight against scammers.
The NASC will bring together the best expertise and resources across government agencies, law enforcement and the private sector to;
- disrupt scammers before they reach Australians
- raise consumer awareness about the nature of scams and how to avoid them and;
- link scam victims to services where they've lost money or had their identity compromised
The NASC operations will phase in from 1 July this year and will launch its first ever fusion cell to target scammers.
A fusion cell is an expert taskforce from across Government, law enforcement, and the private sector who will utilise their expertise and intelligence to disrupt a specific scam.
They’ll be nimble and formed to address urgent, high profile or damaging scams. That’s why the first fusion cell will target investment scams, which currently account for over 50% of all scam losses – costing Australians over $1 billion a year.
Led by ACCC and ASIC and including specialists from the banks, telecommunications industry, and digital platforms, first fusion cell will focus on disrupting investment scams to minimise scammers.
The fusion cell will focus on:
- Early intervention to disrupt investment scams including stopping scammers from reaching potential victims
- Removing investment scam websites from the internet
- Sharing information about investment scam activity to assist the private sector to take disruption action
- Providing information to the public so they can avoid investment scams
The investment scam fusion cell will initially operate for 6 months, with the NASC publicly reporting outcomes.
Quotes attributable to Member for Whitlam, Stephen Jones:
“There is a scamdemic. No one is safe. Scammers are getting more sophisticated and costing Australians billions of dollars. The top priority of our new National Anti-Scams Centre is to detect and disrupt scammers before they can reach Australians”.
“As the NASC launches today we’re going to be setting up new fusion cells - they’re experts from Government, law enforcement, regulators, banks, telecos and digital platforms that will bring their knowledge, intelligence, and resources together to tackle scams.”
“First up we are tackling investment scams. Australians lose an average of $82,000 to investment scams it’s devasting”.
“Fighting scammers is a team Australia effort. The partnership across Government, business, and consumer organisations through the NASC, show a united front as we continue to take up the fight to scammers”.
