HSBC Australia Banks Blocks Crypto Transactions Over $171M Lost on Scams
HSBC Australia Banks, an affiliate of the world banking and financial services organization, HSBC Holdings plc, will no longer allow crypto transactions to crypto exchanges on its platform. The Australian bank serves about 1.5 million customers. It has also established a strong presence in 34 countries and operates 45 branches domestically.
According to a July 24 email to customers, the bank joined other major banks in the country to block payments from bank accounts or credit cards to any crypto exchange. It also advised customers to seek alternative payment methods to facilitate their crypto transactions.
Although the bank will block transactions made to crypto exchanges, it will continue to accept incoming transfers from these platforms.
Following a report that Australians lost up to $171 million to scams in 2023, HSBC Australia cited customer protection from scams as the primary reason behind its recent policy.
A message on the platform’s Help and Support page reads, “We’ve made these changes to protect our customers in response to the increase in scams. We’re continually investing in our security capabilities and strengthening our systems to help protect our customers from evolving threats.”
Australia Banks Limit Access to Crypto Platforms
Major Australian banks like the National Australia Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the Commonwealth Bank, and Westpac have implemented similar policies against crypto platforms over the past year.
Another Australian bank, Bendigo, also blocked crypto payments on its platform citing the protection of customers from investment scams following HSBC Australia’s announcement.
In April, HSBC Australia and Barclay, a British bank with a presence in Australia, suffered from a security breach.
Threat actors IntelBrokers and Sanggieros infiltrated the network of the two banks. They stole data which included, private security certificates, source codes, compiled Jar files, JKS files, PIX keys, and signing keys. After the attack, the threat actors posted the stolen data on a forum to sell.
Australia’s experience with investment scam-related losses is not unique, as other countries have suffered similar financial setbacks. In a recent report, America incurred more losses from crypto scams than ransomware.
According to the FBI, investment scams accounted for a total loss of $4.57 billion in 2023, a 38% increase from the 2022 record of $3.31 billion.
