National Australia Bank (NAB) has issued an urgent warning to customers as criminals turn to fake pop-up SMS scams in a bid to trick Australians out of their cash.

The latest scam involves a fake pop-up SMS which appears on a locked phone screen and claims to be from NAB.

It temporarily disables the target’s phone and instructs them to contact the bank “because their NAB ID has been used overseas”.

However, the supposed NAB contact details provided on the pop-up aren’t legitimate.

This is how scammers reel targets in.

“The current bank impersonation scam trend is focused on trying to get people to ‘call NAB’ through a fake pop-up SMS,” NAB Head of Security Advisory Laura Hartley said.

“The criminals’ goal is to reel you in and then phish you into handing over account log-ins, PIN codes or to make payments.”

The pop-up will not disappear from the target’s phone until it is dismissed or saved, however the SMS will not automatically save to the phone, making it hard to report this particular scam.

Hartley confirmed that NAB does not use pop-up SMSes to contact customers and urged any Aussies who received such a message on their phone to report the scam.

“If you aren’t sure if it is legitimately NAB contacting you, call the bank using details you have found yourself via the website or on the back of your bank card,” she said.

Digital scams have become more sophisticated in recent years, this latest NAB scam showing a shift away from phishing links and towards more elaborate impersonation scams.

Though NAB has cracked down on impersonation scams, slashing losses by 65 per cent between 2023 and 2024, bank impersonation scams remain prolific.

Hartley urged Australians to educate themselves on how to recognise scam red flags and promised NAB would continue to work to protect its customers.

“Criminals have been forced to change their approach and come up with new tactics like these pop-up SMSes,” she said.

“But there is no silver bullet. We can, and will, do more.”