A scam warning has been issued by the Commonwealth Bank following a mass text message “campaign” by fraudsters. Aussies have already lost $119 million to scams this year, with phishing scams responsible for the biggest increase in losses.

The latest text scam, which purports to be sent by the bank, claims your Award points are about to expire. It then urges you not to “miss out” and requests you to click on a suspicious link to redeem your points.

Commonwealth Bank said the fraudulent SMS message campaign may also try and trick you by asking you to call a phone number, reply to the message to activate a link, or share sensitive details, including your banking credentials.

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“These messages might seem legitimate, and may even show up in the same thread as real messages from us, however, they are not from CommBank,” the major bank said.

“We will not ask you to redeem points via a link in an email or SMS message.”

Commonwealth Bank said customers should only access their digital banking from the CommBank app or by navigating directly to the CBA website, never via a link in a text message.

“Be suspicious of any message that asks you for sensitive information, or to complete tasks like updating software, or giving remote access via email or text,” it said.

Customers can contact the bank by visiting it’s official website.

Do you have a scam story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com

Scam losses increase to $119 million

Australians lost about $119 million to scams in the first four months of 2025, according to Scamwatch data released by the National Anti-Scam Centre.

Despite a 24 per cent drop in overall scam reports to 72,230, reported losses increased 28 per cent compared to the same time last year.

The biggest increase came from phishing scams, which are where scammers impersonate entities such as government agencies or financial institutions like the major banks. This made up $13.7 million in financial losses, compared to $4.6 million in early 2024.

“Scams are affecting Australians of all ages, often beginning with an unprompted or unexpected contact via social media and other digital platforms,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

The banking sector recently rolled out ‘confirmation of payee’, which is designed to combat scam losses by telling customers when a payment recipient’s name does not match other account details.