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Barefoot Investor: Scott Pape says ING must tackle scams and live up to its ‘most recommended bank’ title

Scott Pape’s 2022 account says ING offered to return half of a reader’s reported $20,000 loss to a Telstra impersonation scam. The case details and final outcome remain unconfirmed.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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In a 2022 column, Barefoot Investor writer Scott Pape urged ING to do more after a reader told him a caller posing as a Telstra representative tricked her into transferring $20,000 from her ING account. Pape says the bank later agreed to return half the money. The account is Pape’s report—not a published bank case file or legal finding—and the available material does not establish how the transfers were processed or whether the outcome later changed.

What did Scott Pape say happened?

Pape’s column, republished by PerthNow on 31 July 2022, recounts the experience of a reader he calls Fiona, a high-school maths teacher. According to Pape, a caller claiming to be from Telstra deceived her while she followed the caller’s instructions, and a series of transfers drained $20,000 she had saved for her wedding from an ING account. Pape says ING agreed to reimburse half after discussions. The underlying transaction records and the bank’s reasoning for that offer have not been made public in the sources available here. PerthNow’s 2022 republication of Pape’s column and the Barefoot Investor page are the accounts of the incident.

Pape’s criticism was that ING should have noticed a rapid run of outgoing payments and intervened. That is his argument about the bank’s response, not an independently verified finding about what alerts or transaction controls ING had in 2022, what information it could see, or which payment system was used. Pape’s challenge was: “You’re Australia’s most recommended bank. Start acting like it.”

Did ING repay Fiona?

According to Pape, ING agreed to return half of the reported $20,000 loss—about $10,000. The sources cited for the story do not establish whether Fiona accepted that offer, whether the amount or outcome later changed, or whether she took the complaint to an external dispute body. There is no case-specific public statement from ING in the material available here, so the reported offer should not be treated as a final or independently confirmed resolution.

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Does a bank have to reimburse someone who transfers money to a scammer?

Not automatically. A crucial distinction is whether a payment was unauthorised or whether the customer was deceived into authorising it. ASIC says the ePayments Code applies to consumer electronic payments such as internet and mobile banking and sets out rules for unauthorised transactions and mistaken internet payments. The Code is voluntary, though most banks subscribe; consumers can check whether their bank does. ASIC Commissioner Danielle Press said when the updated Code was announced on 2 June 2023: “The ePayments Code sets out important details about the relationship between the consumer and their bank or credit union.” ASIC’s announcement explains the Code’s role.

ASIC’s scam reviews note that scam transfers are commonly authorised by the customer, so rules about liability for unauthorised transactions do not automatically determine whether a bank should reimburse a scam victim. The Code is also not the only possible basis for bank liability. The facts, the relevant account terms, the bank’s conduct and the complaint assessment all matter; the available account of Fiona’s case does not settle those questions. ASIC’s scam guidance discusses the broader issues.

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What do ASIC’s reimbursement figures show?

ASIC reported that in FY2022–23 customers bore 96% of scam losses in the non-major-bank group it reviewed, while 4% was reimbursed or compensated. Among the four major banks, 7% was reimbursed or compensated; ASIC cautioned that this comparison was driven by one major bank. These figures are group-wide findings for that period, not ING-specific rates and not evidence about Fiona’s claim. They offer context for the reimbursement challenge without deciding any individual complaint. ASIC’s review and scam resources provide the relevant context.

How does ING’s later scam-prevention record fit its reputation claim?

ING’s “most recommended bank” wording is based on RFI Global’s Consumer Atlas Survey for July–December 2025. ING says the survey had 29,246 respondents and compared customers of the 10 largest authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) who had any financial relationship with a bank. That is a survey claim about recommendation within a defined population, not a rating of scam prevention or reimbursement. ING’s media-centre material gives the survey basis for the claim.

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Separately, ING’s 2024 annual report says the bank implemented in-app warnings for new payments, joined the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, and added technology to block high-risk channels and accounts used for scam activity. These are later, bank-wide measures; the report does not establish that they were in place in Fiona’s 2022 case or that her case prompted them. Nor do general controls establish the outcome a particular customer should receive. ING’s annual reports describe those measures.

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What can a customer do after a scam transfer?

If you believe you have been tricked into sending money, contact your bank immediately using the number in its app or on its official website. Ask it to try to stop or recover the payment, record the complaint, and explain its decision in writing. Keep messages, call details, receipts, account statements and a timeline of what happened. If the bank’s response does not resolve the complaint, use its internal dispute process and check the available external complaint route; ASIC advises consumers to check whether their bank subscribes to the ePayments Code. Whether reimbursement is due depends on the facts and applicable rules, so do not assume that a scam transfer will be treated like an unauthorised transaction.

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