NAB Scam Refund: How to Complain and Escalate to AFCA

If you have lost money to a scam through your NAB account, please take a breath before anything else. What happened to you was not a failure of intelligence or character. Scams today are run by organised criminals who are very good at what they do, and they use urgency and pressure precisely because it overrides clear thinking in almost anyone. You are not alone, and you may have options.

This guide is specific to NAB. It walks you through what to do now, how NAB's complaint process actually works, and what to do if NAB says no. It is written plainly and calmly, because the last thing you need right now is more confusion.

First, contact NAB straight away

The first hours matter, because money can sometimes be stopped or recalled before it is moved on.

NAB has 24 hour fraud support. The quickest way to reach the right team is to log into the NAB app and report it from there, which skips the identification step and connects you faster. You can also call NAB on 13 22 65. Tell them clearly what happened, ask them to attempt to recall the funds, and ask them to freeze or flag the receiving account if they can.

Contact NAB immediately if any of these apply to you:

• —You sent money or authorised a payment because of a scam.
• —You gave your identity details or banking details to someone you now believe is a scammer.
• —You have found transactions on your account that you did not make.

A few more steps worth doing the same day:

• —Report the scam to the National Anti-Scam Centre through Scamwatch, and lodge a report with ReportCyber. These create an official record.
• —If you gave a scammer remote access to your computer or phone, disconnect it from the internet and get help from an IT professional or from IDCARE, a free national identity support service.
• —Write everything down while it is fresh. Dates, times, amounts, account numbers, the names that were used, and what you were told. Save every screenshot, email and message. This record becomes the backbone of your complaint.

How NAB's complaint process works

If your money is not returned after you report the scam, the next step is a formal complaint. It helps to know how NAB handles this, so you know what to expect.

You can lodge a complaint with NAB by phone on 13 22 65, through NAB Messaging in your internet banking, using the online complaint form, by mail, or in a branch. Put your complaint in writing where you can, set out clearly what went wrong, and state what you are asking for. Keep it factual and organised rather than angry. The clearer it is, the more seriously it tends to be treated.

Here is roughly how it then moves through NAB:

• —If NAB cannot resolve it quickly, the complaint is passed to a specialist team within about five days and you are assigned a Case Manager.
• —NAB aims to give you an answer within 30 days, or 21 days depending on what the complaint is about. These timeframes come from a set of rules all banks follow, known as ASIC Regulatory Guide 271.
• —If the complaint is complex or something is outside NAB's control, it may take longer, and NAB must write to you to explain why.
• —You will receive a written response, called an Internal Dispute Resolution Response, that explains what NAB has decided. If it is rejected, in part or in full, that letter will also tell you how to take the matter to AFCA.

Will NAB refund you? It often comes down to one question

Whether NAB refunds a scam loss usually turns on whether the transaction was authorised or unauthorised. This is the single most important factor, and it is worth understanding before you complain. We cover it in depth in our full guide to getting your money back after a scam, but here is the short version.

If the payment was unauthorised, meaning someone else moved your money without your knowledge or consent, you are generally protected under the ePayments Code, unless NAB can show you voluntarily handed over your passwords or passcodes. Even then, whether that disclosure was truly voluntary can be challenged if you were manipulated or pressured.

If the payment was authorised, meaning you were tricked into sending it yourself, as happens in most romance and investment scams, it is harder, because on paper you approved it. Harder does not mean hopeless. NAB is expected to do more than follow the strict letter of its rules, and a complaint can succeed where the bank missed obvious red flags or failed to step in on an unusual or high risk payment.

If NAB says no

A rejection from NAB is not the end of the road.

If you are unhappy with NAB's response, or NAB has not resolved your complaint within the required time, you can take it to AFCA, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. AFCA is free for consumers, independent, and can make decisions that are binding on NAB. In general you must lodge with AFCA within six years of becoming aware of your loss, and within two years of receiving NAB's written response.

There are two things worth knowing at this stage.

First, be careful before you accept NAB's resolution or sign anything such as a settlement or a deed. Accepting an outcome can sometimes prevent you from taking the matter to AFCA afterwards, so make sure you are clear on what you are agreeing to before you sign.

Second, your own bank is not the only one you can complain about. Since March 2026, you can also complain about the bank that received the scam funds, and you do not have to be a customer of that bank. Scam money often lands in an account that should never have been opened, or that should have been frozen sooner. This second path can sometimes open up a refund even where a complaint about NAB alone would struggle.

What makes a NAB complaint strong

By the time most people sit down to complain, they are exhausted and upset. Completely understandable, and it is also why so many complaints fall flat. A pile of screenshots attached to an angry email rarely lands well.

A complaint that gets taken seriously usually sets out a clear timeline, includes the right documents in order, and frames the right arguments: whether the transaction was authorised or unauthorised, whether any disclosure was truly voluntary, the red flags NAB missed, and where relevant the conduct of the receiving bank. Knowing which of these fits your situation, and how to put them, is often the difference between a refund and a rejection.

A word on recovery services, and staying safe

You can do everything in this guide yourself, for free, through NAB and through AFCA. We want to be upfront about that, because honesty is the whole point in a category that has been badly abused.

Please be cautious of anyone who promises to recover your money, especially for a percentage of the amount or a large upfront fee. Guaranteed recovery is not something anyone can honestly offer, and people who have already been scammed are very often targeted a second time by exactly these promises. If it sounds like a guarantee, treat it as a warning sign.

How Fairlight Advisory fits in

Fairlight Advisory does not recover funds and does not guarantee any outcome. What we do is prepare your complaint and supporting documents to a professional standard, drawing on more than twenty years working inside bank fraud and complaints teams. We organise your evidence, build the timeline, and frame your complaint around the arguments that banks like NAB and AFCA actually respond to, all for a clear flat fee with no surprises.

The aim is simple. To give your complaint the strongest possible footing, and to take the weight of preparing it off your shoulders so you do not have to relive the experience on your own.

If you would like us to look at your situation, you can start with a free case review, and we will tell you honestly whether we will be able to help.

This guide is general information about how scam complaints work in Australia. It is not legal or financial advice, and it does not take account of your personal circumstances. Fairlight Advisory provides document preparation and complaint support only, and is not affiliated with NAB.