Equifax Australia and Australian Finance Industry Association Join Forces to Help Combat AI-Driven Financial Fraud In Sector

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 24 August 2026  – Equifax Australia has announced a new collaboration with the Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) to help strengthen fraud prevention efforts across Australia’s finance industry in response to growing concerns about the impact of criminal fraud.

The collaboration launches at a critical moment for Australian lenders, who are facing increasingly sophisticated fraud threats fueled by shifting macroeconomic conditions and new technology. Recent data from the Equifax 2026 Fraud Index Report reveals a sharp divergence in financial crime tactics, with fraud instances among credit products - such as credit cards and mortgages - jumping by 11.1% over the past year.

First-party fraud - where genuine applicants manipulate their own credentials or falsify financial information to secure loans - has spiked by 25.5% year-on-year. Concurrently, the Equifax 2026 Fraud Index Report observed a massive 90.9% surge in money muling activity, as criminal networks exploit vulnerable people to launder illicit funds through high-value secured assets like mortgages. 

“A secure financial industry requires teamwork, not isolated defenses. Fraudsters don't just target one business; they look for weak spots across the entire sector. By providing AFIA with access to secure and compliant fraud data, we create a stronger, unified industry network where an early warning at one institution helps protect the next”, said Tehani Legeay, General Manager of Digital Identity and Fraud Services at Equifax. 

"Fraud in 2026 is no longer just high-tech syndicate operations; the access to inexpensive generative AI tools has made document alteration accessible to anyone," added Tehani Legeay.

As part of this collaboration, AFIA members will have the opportunity to adopt Equifax advanced fraud prevention solutions, helping lenders of all sizes strengthen their fraud prevention capabilities

Drew Beresford, Head of Solutions at Equifax said, "As financial crime shifts toward complex digital vectors like synthetic identities and deepfake document manipulation, single-institution defenses are no longer sufficient. This collaboration with AFIA gives members - especially growing fintechs, non-banks, and mid-tier lenders - immediate, real-time access to cross-industry intelligence. This ensures that smaller institutions have the exact same level of sophisticated, proactive protection as the major banks, enabling a fair, secure, and friction-free experience for legitimate Australian borrowers."

"We are seeing an unprecedented scale of high-quality, fabricated financial documents designed to bypass verification checks. However, while organisations are tapping into the power of AI to innovate and evolve, fraudsters are also using AI to advance their tactics. We can only counter this by standing together as an industry. Through intelligence-sharing, we helped block more than $1.5 billion in fraudulent applications last year. While that impact is significant, the threat remains ongoing, and we must continue to share and innovate as an industry to disrupt financial crime,” concluded Drew Beresford.

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