Scams Awareness Week has kicked off with fresh warnings from the New South Wales Government and a real-world reminder of what a moment’s hesitation can prevent, after a bank employee’s quick thinking stopped a customer from losing almost $10,000 to an impersonation scam.
Running from 24 to 28 August, this year’s campaign carries the theme “no one’s just a number”, recognising that behind every scam statistic is a real person, family or business affected by financial loss, identity theft or emotional distress.
The reminder landed close to home in the lead-up to the awareness week, after a Newcastle Permanent customer in the Central West rang the bank’s Bathurst branch following a suspicious call from someone claiming to represent the customer-owned bank.
Branch manager Keira Guihot said she could immediately tell something was wrong.
“As soon as I spoke to them, I could hear the panic and urgency in their voice,” Mrs Guihot said.
“The customer explained that they had been asked to log on to internet banking, which immediately raised alarm bells for me.”
Mrs Guihot worked with the bank’s fraud team to lock down internet banking access and place stops on the customer’s cards, preventing a loss of $9,500. NGM Group, which owns Newcastle Permanent, said the case showed how quickly scammers could apply pressure, and urged anyone contacted unexpectedly about their bank accounts to hang up and call back on a verified number rather than acting on the spot.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is running its own campaign this week, sharing the stories of four Australians who were scammed as part of a push to put a human face on the scale of the problem nationally.
The New South Wales Government has echoed the message, revealing residents reported almost 28,000 scams and $56.7 million in losses to Scamwatch in the first half of 2026 alone, with NSW accounting for around a third of all reports and losses nationwide. ID Support NSW also assisted more than 75,000 customers over the past year whose identity documents or personal information had been compromised.
The state government is urging people to stop before sharing money or personal details, check who they are really dealing with using independently sourced contact details, and protect themselves and others by reporting scams and seeking support if their identity has been compromised.
People can report a scam to the ACCC’s Scamwatch at www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam.
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