ASIC sues HSBC for not protecting customers from scammers in industry first

The global banking giant HSBC is being sued by the corporate watchdog. It's alleged the bank didn't protect its customers from scammers.

Transcript

00:00When Sunny Wan got a text that appeared to be from her bank, Global Giant HSBC, about

00:08a suspicious login, she called the number listed.

00:11He asked exactly the same verification questions as a HSBC representative.

00:16I thought I was genuinely speaking to a HSBC employee.

00:21But it was a scam and almost $50,000 was stolen from her account.

00:25I wasn't able to make my mortgage repayments.

00:28I was cooking more at home.

00:29I was working extra jobs.

00:31She's one of hundreds of Australian victims of an elaborate scam that sought $23 million

00:37fleeced from HSBC accounts.

00:39Now the corporate watchdog is taking legal action, alleging HSBC failed to protect customers

00:46and took too long to investigate incidents and unlock accounts.

00:50This is the very first time that we have held a financial institution to account for what

00:55we consider to be these widespread compliance failures.

00:59The HSBC fraudsters would disguise their phone number and send text messages or make calls

01:04that appeared to be from the bank's real number.

01:07Unsuspecting customers would call the number listed and scammers would impersonate bank

01:12staff to elicit sensitive details and gain access to accounts.

01:17This HSBC scam was particularly egregious.

01:21We saw hundreds of people coming forward and when they turned to the bank, they didn't

01:25get any help.

01:26If we are successful in the case, we'll be seeking very significant penalties, firstly

01:31to send a message to HSBC and to send a broader message to the banking sector.

01:37Sunny got her money back, but others haven't been so lucky.

01:41There's been a lot of stress financially, not just financially, but emotionally, physically,

01:46mentally.

01:47HSBC says it's changed its systems and is working with the regulator.