‘Not a passing grade’: ASIC calls on superannuation funds to lift anti-scam game

Superannuation funds are doing worse than the Big Four banks at alerting members to frauds, according to ASIC, with some trustees not achieving a “passing grade” when it comes to anti-scam communications.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s latest review of 47 super funds’ website — benchmarked against anti-scam content from the major banks — revealed only a third provided actionable information for members to prevent or report scams and fraud.

The regulator found the website content was “frequently outdated, generic, or overly complex”, with only nine super funds clearly defining what constitutes a scam.

ASIC commissioner Simone Constant said the watchdog’s review, to be released on Wednesday, confirmed “super funds often lacked clarity, accessibility, and support for scam victims”.

“When benchmarked against other industries, super funds fell short for victims,” she said.

ASIC’s review focused on the availability, quality and actionability of anti-scams and fraud content, including by checking the website content for clarity and relevance.

“Banks such as NAB, ANZ, CBA, and Westpac generally scored pretty positive results over 80 per cent of the time,” Ms Constant will say on Wednesday.

“Not surprising given they now have to protect Australians from scams by law.

“Super funds, on the other hand, mostly scored between 40 and 60 per cent — not even a passing grade in some cases. Some of it is really basic stuff.”

For instance, she said only two funds offered members fraud or scam alert subscriptions, while only one in five super fund websites provided a dedicated telephone or email contact for members to report potential scams or fraud.

In 2025, Scamwatch received more than 800 reports related to superannuation, with more than $22 million lost.

Some of the nation’s biggest super funds were repeatedly warned they were underprepared for cyber attacks before criminals hacked into thousands of accounts and robbed retirees of their life savings early last year.

As part of a joint keynote address, Ms Constant on Wednesday will also call on super trustees at the Conexus Chair Forum in Melbourne to be “custodians of stability and confidence” for the economic wellbeing of the country.

“By 2030, industry projects that Australia’s superannuation pool could be approaching $6 trillion dollars, which is more-or-less where the banks are today,” she will say.

“It’s not a moonshot to say that super will one day be the biggest part of our economy. Bigger than the banks.”

“That would make you stewards of more than Australia’s retirement future — but of our economic future too.”