The National Anti-Scam Centre is not a new facility or organisation, it is actually a taskforce working within the ACCC guided by an industry advisory board.
The advisory board has representatives drawn from peak bodies representing the finance (First Option is represented by Michael Lawrence the CEO of COBA), digital platforms and telecommunications sectors as well as consumer advocates, victim support services and others with relevant expertise.
In the words of the new NASC: “We work together with government, industry, other regulators, law enforcement bodies and community organisations to make it more difficult to scam Australians. We’re providing more frequent information on how to spot and avoid scams. We’re making it easier to report scams and get help from the right services by building and connecting tools and systems to report scams and working with support services so that people affected by scams can get the support they need to recover.”
The National Anti-Scam Centre will be phased in from 1 July 2023, with capability, including data-sharing technology, to be built over the next three years. In the first year of operation, the National Anti-Scam Centre will work closely with ASIC in delivering its scam website takedown service and support ACMA to continue its important work in combatting telecommunications scams.