Fraud Statistics Jan 21 - Dec 21
As criminals adapt and evolve their methods to take advantage of the increasing amount of time Australians are spending online, payment scams are on the rise.
AusPayNet’s 2022 Payment Fraud Report shows that in 2021, while card payments grew by 8.0% to $865 billion and online spending by 8.2% to $53 billion, the incidence of all card fraud grew at a slower pace, by 5.7% to $495 million for the year. The rate of fraud on Australian card payments in 2021 was steady at 57.3 cents per $1,000 of spending, compared to 58.6 cents in 2020.
Stabilisation of the fraud rate coincides with AusPayNet’s introduction in 2019 of the CNP Fraud Mitigation Framework to counteract rising rates of CNP fraud. In the three years prior to the introduction of the framework (2016-2018) the fraud rate averaged 74.3 cents per $1,000 spent.
As criminals adapt and evolve their methods to take advantage of the increasing amount of time Australians are spending online, payment scams are on the rise. A recent report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed that Australians lost over $2 billion to scams in 2021.
Scams are a focus for AusPayNet’s recently established Economic Crime Forum (ECF). Additionally, AusPayNet’s scams mitigation program developed alongside the Australian Banking Association (ABA), Australian Financial Crime Exchange (AFCX), and IDCARE, seeks to make Australia an unattractive target to scammers.
For more information on the data and payment fraud trends, including further scams insights, read the 2022 Australian Payment Fraud Report below and the accompanying media release.
- Fraud on lost and stolen cards increased by 9.3% to $28.9 million
- Counterfeit/skimming fraud fell by more than 50% to $5.5 million
- Card-not-present (CNP) fraud increased by 7.6% to $452 million
Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
| Fraud Transactions | Total Transactions | Fraud Rates | ||||
| Number | Value | Number (millions) | Value (millions) | as % of total no. of transactions | as % of total value ($) of transactions | |
| Cheques | 494 | $3,212,273 | 33 | $371,480 | 0.0015% | 0.0009% |
| Australian-issued cards | 4,267,201 | $495,475,643 | 12,528 | $864,727 | 0.0341% | 0.0573% |
| Proprietary debit cards | 65,235 | $10,752,794 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Scheme credit, debit and charge cards | 4,201,966 | $484,722,849 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total | 4,267,695 | $498,687,916 | 12,561 | $1,236,206 | 0.0340% | 0.0403% |
^ = Figures have been revised.
Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
| Category | Actual | Exposure | Recoveries* |
| On-Us Fraud | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Value ($) |
| Valueless | 1 | 14,012 | 305 | 16,386,244 | 1,130,,992 |
| Fraudulently Altered | 137 | 918,969 | 376 | 7,598,251 | 243,738 |
| Stolen Blank Cheque / Book | 273 | 1,276,924 | 1,558 | 17,413,691 | 157,602 |
| Originated Counterfeit Cheques | 32 | 440,009 | 68 | 4,480,147 | 61,177 |
| Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques | 23 | 304,876 | 125 | 1,229,033 | 116,679 |
| Breach of Mandate | 17 | 198,302 | 28 | 1,067,442 | 17,356 |
| On-Us Total | 483 | 3,153,092 | 2,460 | 48,174,808 | 1,727,544 |
| Deposit Fraud | |||||
| Valueless | 3 | 51,054 | 237 | 23,518,945 | 256,718 |
| Valueless - Kite Flying | 1 | 2,580 | 1 | 2,580 | 250 |
| Third Party Conversion | 7 | 5,547 | 227 | 2,022,610 | 2,722 |
| Deposit Total | 11 | 59,181 | 465 | 25,544,135 | 259,690 |
| Total | 494 | 3,212,273 | 2,925 | 73,718,943 | 1,987,234 |
* Data on the 'transactions' of recoveries is not collected.
“Actual” losses can relate to “Exposure” during an earlier period. This explains why, in some reporting periods,actual losses may exceed exposure.
Proprietary Debit Card Fraud Perpetrated in Australia
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
| Category | Transactions | Value |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 18,448 | 2,998,186 |
| Never Received | 1,629 | 475,972 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 5,468 | 2,393,550 |
| Other | 5,510 | 2,329,550 |
| PIN Used Total | 31,055 | 8,197,258 |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 23,212 | 1,094,266 |
| Never Received | 3,816 | 214,328 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 91 | 6,236 |
| Other | 7,061 | 1,240,706 |
| PIN Not Used Total | 34,180 | 2,555,536 |
| Total Debit Card Fraud | 65,235 | 10,752,794 |
Note: For fraudulent transactions initiated at ATMs, POS terminals and other devices, the above statistics incorporate all transactions where either "cheque" or "savings" was selected, regardless of the type of card used (that is debit card, 'combo’ card, scheme card etc). The number of fraud transactions does not represent the number of cards or consumers affected. Typically, multiple fraud transactions are made on a single card.
Scheme Credit, Debit and Charge Card Fraud
Perpetrated in Australia and Overseas on Australia-issued Cards
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
| Category | In Australia | Overseas | Total |
| Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | |
| Lost / Stolen | 242,091 | 19,352,595 | 46,112 | 5,459,538 | 288,203 | 24,812,133 |
| Never Received | 9,744 | 1,219,523 | 458 | 86,458 | 10,202 | 1,305,981 |
| Fraudulent Application | 1,781 | 806,289 | 766 | 101,552 | 2,547 | 907,841 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 31,529 | 1,604,259 | 20,807 | 1,462,436 | 52,336 | 3,066,694 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 2,177,859 | 291,019,470 | 1,652,172 | 160,791,130 | 3,830,031 | 451,810,600 |
| Other | 11,065 | 1,721,023 | 7,582 | 1,098,577 | 18,647 | 2,819,599 |
| Total | 2,474,069 | 315,723,158 | 1,727,897 | 168,999,691 | 4,201,966 | 484,722,849 |
Note: The number of fraud transactions does not represent the number of cards or consumers affected. Typically, multiple fraud transactions are made on a single card.
Fraud Perpetrated in Australia on Cards issued Overseas
| Category | Transactions | Value ($) |
| Lost / Stolen | 15,822 | 2,503,563 |
| Never Received | 578 | 111,370 |
| Fraudulent Application | 371 | 51,886 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 20,347 | 3,243,871 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 319,540 | 54,814,815 |
| Other | 3,243 | 982,146 |
| Total | 359,901 | 61,707,652 |
Note: The number of fraud transactions does not represent the number of cards or consumers affected. Typically, multiple fraud transactions are made on a single card.
