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HSBC fought customers 'tooth and nail' over scam but now it's fronting court

HSBC is set to appear in Federal Court after admitting it failed to protect customers from a long-running spoofing scam, agreeing to a $35 million penalty. Victims, who lost tens of millions, criticize the bank's reimbursement process and the regulator's limited action against a telco that allowed scam messages through.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jun 17–18, 2026 Published Aug 13

Lead

Global bank HSBC is facing a Federal Court hearing in Melbourne today after admitting it failed to protect customers from a long-running bank impersonation scam, potentially paving the way for a massive financial penalty. The admission comes as victims, who lost tens of millions of dollars, demand full reimbursement and compensation.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sued HSBC in 2024, alleging "widespread and systemic" failures to protect customers. According to ASIC, customers made 950 reports alleging scammers had netted $23 million between January 2020 and August 2024. HSBC initially planned to defend the case but abandoned that defense, agreeing to a $35 million penalty, as reported by ABC Australia.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting from ABC Australia, the only outlet covering this story in the provided material, focuses on two distinct aspects: the bank's accountability and the regulator's inaction toward a telco that failed to stop scam messages. One report highlights victims' struggles to get reimbursements and the bank's alleged failures, while another reveals that Telesign, a California-based company, allowed over 1,000 scam texts impersonating HSBC to reach Australians but faced no fine.

Key Claims

HSBC acknowledged risk but argued controls were adequate: According to ABC's report on the ASIC lawsuit, HSBC admitted it was aware of the risk of unauthorised payments but argued it had adequate controls in place. This defense was later dropped, leading to the $35 million penalty.

Regulator found Telesign breached scams code without imposing a fine: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) determined that Telesign allowed 1,121 messages impersonating HSBC to pass through its network, breaching the industry scams code. However, as ABC reported, Telesign received only a warning to comply, with the regulator stating that was the strongest enforcement action available for a first-time offence.

Victims offered low reimbursements and had to fight for full repayment: The reports include accounts from victims like Sunni Wan, who lost nearly $50,000, and describe a pattern where some customers were offered "goodwill" payments that did not cover their full losses. Many had to fight for months or years to get their money back, with some settling for less due to financial hardship.

Perspectives

Victims' Experience

Victims, as quoted in the ABC reports, express frustration with HSBC's initial responses. "They just kept putting the blame on the victims," said Sunni Wan, who created a support group after discovering others faced similar losses. The group has been pushing for the bank to repay outstanding losses and compensation, and sees the court hearing as a step toward accountability.

Regulator's Position

ACMA, the telecommunications regulator, defended its action against Telesign by saying the direction to comply was the strongest option available for a first-time offence. The regulator noted that only a second breach can incur a maximum penalty of $250,000. This has drawn criticism from advocates who question whether ACMA has sufficient powers to deter such breaches.

HSBC's Response

HSBC has not commented publicly beyond its court filings, in which it admitted failures and agreed to the penalty. The bank's decision to stop contesting the case was announced abruptly, with no public explanation. As the Federal Court hearing proceeds, observers will be watching for any additional details about the bank's internal processes and how it intends to compensate remaining victims.

How this outlet told it

ABC Australia as of Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC

Framing: Lack of consequences for telco that allowed scam messages — Critical

Facts Included:

Over 1,000 scam text messages reached Australians
HSBC bank customers were defrauded out of tens of millions of dollars
Telesign, a California-based company, allowed 1,121 messages impersonating HSBC to pass through its network
ACMA found Telesign breached the industry scams code but did not impose a fine
HSBC agreed to a $35 million penalty in the Federal Court

Read the source article →

ABC Australia as of Jun 17, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC

Framing: HSBC's failure to protect customers from scams — Critical

Facts Included:

HSBC faced a lawsuit from ASIC over alleged failures to protect customers from scams
Customers lost over $100 million to all payment fraud-related losses between 2021 and 2024
HSBC admitted to being aware of the risk of unauthorised payments but argued it had adequate controls in place
Victims were offered low reimbursement amounts and had to fight for full repayment

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimOver 1,000 scam text messages reached Australians, with HSBC bank customers being defrauded out of tens of millions of dollars.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimTelesign, a California-based company, allowed 1,121 messages impersonating HSBC to pass through its network, breaching the industry scams code.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimACMA found Telesign breached the industry scams code but did not impose a fine, instead warning the company to comply.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimHSBC agreed to a $35 million penalty in the Federal Court for failing to protect customers from scams.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimCustomers lost over $100 million to all payment fraud-related losses between 2021 and 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 17, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimHSBC faced a lawsuit from ASIC over alleged failures to protect customers from scams, with the bank admitting to being aware of the risk of unauthorised payments but arguing it had adequate controls in place.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 17, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC
ClaimVictims of the HSBC bank impersonation scam were offered low reimbursement amounts and had to fight for full repayment, with some accepting 'goodwill' payments due to financial difficulties.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 17, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: ABC Australia 7 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-13