Millions of Commonwealth Bank customers warned: ‘Message us immediately’

Commonwealth Bank has warned customers about a fresh scam. (Source: Getty / CBA)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has issued a fresh warning about a new text message scam targeting its customers.

The text message, purporting to be from the bank, claims the customer has an incomplete transaction and encourages them to call a phone number.

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“The scammers have set up a fake CommBank phone line that collects customer information,” CBA said.

“These are not legitimate CommBank communications. Do not call or reply to the sender. We are currently working with authorities to shut the scam down, but ask that you share this message amongst your friends and family for awareness.”

CBA said if you believed you’d fallen victim to the scam, you should message the bank immediately in the CommBank app.

Avoiding bank-impersonation scams

Bank-impersonation scams impersonate the Big Four banks as well as other financial institutions. Communications often have a sense of urgency to them, such as fraudulent activity raising red flags, or a frozen account.

Top tips for avoiding scams

Stop: Take your time before giving money or personal information.

Think: Ask yourself if the message or call could be fake.

Protect: Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank and report scams to Scamwatch.

Signs of a bank-impersonation scam:

• There is a sense of urgency or threat to the message – “your bank account has been accessed”, “your bank account has been locked”, “a payment has been made from your account. If this was not you, please call (phone number)”

• The message looks different to other messages in the SMS thread, such as different wording or phrases used

• The message may contain a suspicious-looking link. Never click on links

• The SMS has a telephone number to call – always find your bank’s phone number independently

• The caller will tell you to transfer money to a different account to ‘keep it safe’ or for ‘further investigation’. This is not standard procedure for a bank. It is a scam

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