Australia’s financial crime regulator, AUSTRAC, has issued a strong warning to online payment platforms after discovering transactions that may be linked to child sexual exploitation. The agency is urging payment providers to strengthen their monitoring systems and be more attentive to any suspicious behaviour.USTRAC explained that its regulatory team recently identified several customers who were
Australia’s financial crime regulator, AUSTRAC, has issued a strong warning to online payment platforms after discovering transactions that may be linked to child sexual exploitation.
The agency is urging payment providers to strengthen their monitoring systems and be more attentive to any suspicious behaviour.USTRAC explained that its regulatory team recently identified several customers who were suspected of making payments for child sexual exploitation. These findings came from a targeted review focused on detecting this kind of criminal activity within payment services.
During the review, AUSTRAC found several serious problems. Some companies were not reporting enough suspicious activity, while others had weak transaction-monitoring systems. In many cases, providers failed to properly identify high-risk customers or close accounts that showed clear warning signs.
AUSTRAC’s CEO, Brendan Thomas, said:
“The team conducted their own transaction monitoring simulation, identifying suspicious customer behaviour and transfers that were very likely payments for child sexual exploitation. Failure to effectively monitor for suspicious transactions and to submit timely reports means we miss out on critical intelligence that our customs and border, and law enforcement agencies can use to catch the offenders and other criminals.”
Because of these issues, AUSTRAC has ordered WorldRemit to bring in an external auditor. It also sent letters of concern to five other businesses and is continuing to investigate additional companies.
Australia currently has 90 online payment platforms, including 50 registered remitters. Not only payment providers but everyone in the industry must follow the country’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws.
Back in October 2025, AUSTRAC announced that Entain didn’t do enough to prevent its platforms from being used for illegal purposes, pointing to 17 customer accounts that used more than AUD 152 million.