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