Australians lost more than $2 billion dollars to scams last year. The digital nature of these criminal operations, which often traverse physical borders and legal jurisdictions, are particularly challenging for authorities.

The sophisticated methods employed by scamsters mean even the most savvy of consumers can be ensnared, as we detail in our report today on the hundreds of HSBC customers who had money siphoned from their accounts through an elaborate and extended scam.

Many of the victims of these scams have lost considerable amounts of money – their life savings in some instances – and very few will have this money returned to them.

Data shows of the more than $500 million lost in scams by Australians through the Big Four banks only $21 million was paid in compensation.

Our report reignites the debate around whether Australian banks should play a greater role in scam prevention and have a greater level of responsibility for losses incurred by their customers.

The British parliament last year passed legislation that makes UK banks legally liable to reimburse customers within five days if they are victims of scams on their platforms. Authorities say there has been a decline in scams successfully targeting banks as a result.

In this country, consumer advocates have been calling for Australian banks to be compelled to have the same level of legal liability, rather than scam victims carrying the loss themselves.

They say both cyber platforms and banks have the financial resources and the technology to analyse for red flags and the best way to prevent scams is to financially incentivise banks to invest in detection and prevention technology.

Local banks have been making steps to increase their customer protections, beginning work on a new accord last year to create a set of industry-wide anti-scam measures.