Westpac warning after internet banking down for days: ‘Really concerning’

Westpac customers are being warned to stay vigilant to scams after a mass outage meant thousands of people were unable to access internet banking services. The major bank said services were restored on Wednesday afternoon, however, some customers are still reporting issues.

Westpac has now urged customers to “be vigilant” of scammers impersonating the bank. The bank said fraudsters would often attempt to take advantage of widespread outages and try to steal people’s personal and financial information.

“Customers are encouraged to be vigilant of potential scams at this time as some scammers may use a service disruption as an opportunity to impersonate the bank, offering help,” Westpac said.

“We urge customers to be extra alert and call us if they are concerned.”

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Westpac has not revealed the cause of the ongoing outages, which blocked some customers from logging into their mobile and online banking this week.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government had been in contact with Westpac over the “really concerning developments”.

“They have had a number of outages in recent days, and when something like that happens it enlivens the cybersecurity part of our government,” Chalmers said.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve gotten much better at working with private sector entities like Westpac and others who are the subject of various – whether it’s denial of service or other kinds of interruptions.”

Chalmers said the government was working closely with banks and other businesses to make sure they were responding to the issues.

“Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times,” he said.

“We are seeing more of these sorts of interruptions in an economy which is becoming increasingly digital and where the technological changes so fast we are at risk of some of these sorts of interruptions.”

Westpac ‘sorry’ for outage

Westpac thanked its customers for their “patience” during the outage.

“We’re sorry for the disruption. We know how important it is to have access to online banking,” the bank said.

“Our teams have been working around the clock and services are restored. We’ll continue to actively monitor the situation. You do not need to take any action.”

Customers have expressed frustration over the outage on social media, with many unable to pay for groceries and fuel.

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