Australia’s real-time financial crime intelligence-sharing network has identified more than AUD $60 million in attempted fraud in only three months, according to recent data from BioCatch.
The network, which now shields over 85% of Australia’s banked population, processed more than 180 million payments worth AUD $330 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
Fraud prevention
The intelligence-sharing system analyses accountholder behaviour to identify suspect transactions. More than 70% of social engineering scam payments were intercepted before any funds could leave customer accounts. Banks taking part in the network have reported a 20% decline in money laundering activity and a 30% reduction in investment scam attempts targeting people aged 36 or younger.
“In better than 70% of those transactions, BioCatch Trust reliably retrieved the beneficiary’s account profile, assessing the end-to-end payment risk before any money left the sender’s account. When the network makes that match, its signals now detect better than 70% of social engineering scam payments,” said Tim Dalgleish, SVP of Emerging Solutions and Network, BioCatch.
Rising threats
While some forms of fraud have declined, the report notes a significant rise in account takeover attempts, which have increased by 47% in the last year and more than doubled over six months. These attacks are attributed to organised criminal groups and scam hubs located primarily in Southeast Asia.
“We do see account takeover attempts in Australia increasing by 47% in the last year and more than doubling in the last six months. We can attribute this in large part to coordinated attacks from organised criminal groups,” said Thomas Peacock, Director of Global Fraud Intelligence, BioCatch.
Emerald Sage, principal intelligence adviser at OSINT Combine, pointed to the scale of scam operations across Southeast Asia and their links to organised crime networks.
“Southeast Asia is home to a vast network of scam compounds, which serve as the launchpads for much of the online fraud targeting Australians. These compounds are not fringe criminal enclaves but entrenched infrastructures that exploit governance gaps, regional passivity, and parallel financial systems.
“Their integration with Chinese organised crime syndicates ensures these compounds are not isolated enterprises but nodes in a wider criminal economy spanning mainland China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. Their scale and reach make them a critical threat to global financial integrity,” said Sage.
Industry approach
Banks have reported that cross-bank intelligence sharing enables faster and more comprehensive scam detection. Toby Evans, Head of Economic Crime at the Australian Payments Network, suggests that lessons learned from Australia’s response could address vulnerabilities in payment systems worldwide, especially as criminals adopt increasingly sophisticated techniques.
“The digital payments landscape continues to evolve, from AI-driven eCommerce to cross-border links between fast payment systems. Each advance brings new opportunities, but also new risks. By embedding safety into systems from the start, payments can remain innovative, secure, and resilient without forcing consumers to shoulder risk,” said Evans.
Increasing collaboration
Since the launch of the real-time network, two additional financial institutions have become participants, including Macquarie Bank. BioCatch has received awards from sector organisations for its anti-scam solutions and collaborative projects. The system continues to examine behavioural data and payment flows to identify fraudulent activity and is now considered integral to the country’s fraud prevention infrastructure.