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Australians have been warned of a new scam that impersonates one of the major banks and tries to steal personal information through a fake pop-up.
National Australia Bank (NAB) warned of the pop-up SMS scam on Wednesday, saying it had been received by a customer last week. The bank didn’t say if it was aware of any additional reports.
“Pop-up SMSes — legitimately used by governments overseas to share emergency warnings — are being hijacked by criminals to rip Australians off,” NAB head of security advisory Laura Hartley said in a statement.
The scam pop-up SMS appears on a user’s phone prompting NAB customers to call a number. Credit: NAB/Screenshot
How to spot a pop-up SMS scam
NAB said the fake SMS appears on a locked phone screen and temporarily disables the device until it is dismissed.
The bank does not contact customers using pop-up SMS messages, and Hartley said scammers were using the technique in a bid to trick people in handing over account logins, PIN codes, or to make payments.
“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,” Hartley said.
Hartley said the fake pop-ups can be reported to NAB, or your telco provider.
You can also make a report to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) via its Scamwatch website.
NAB described the pop-up SMS as a new trend, with bad actors impersonating banks previously having used text messages to try to lure victims into calling them, or click on a link, in order to scam them.
“The [pop-up] message does not automatically save in a phone’s SMS inbox, making them harder to report and a powerful tool for criminals,” NAB said on its website.
Scamwatch received 77,365 reports of scams sent via text message in 2024. It was the second most popular method scammers used to contact victims, and resulted in about $14 million worth of losses.
Separately, NAB said reports of bank impersonation scams had decreased 45 per cent between 2023 and 2024.
SBS News has contacted the ACCC for comment.
