Fraud Statistics Jan 19 - Dec 19

The data shows a sharp decline in card fraud

Card fraud declines sharply in 2019

Our 2020 Payment Fraud Report shows that in 2019, card fraud fell by 19.5% to $464 million - the biggest decline ever - as total card spending rose 3.9% to a record $819 billion. This translates to a fraud rate of 56.6¢ per $1,000 spent, a significant drop from 73.1¢ per $1,000 in 2018.

  • Fraud on Lost and Stolen cards fell by 37% to $35 million
  • Counterfeit /Skimming fraud fell by 14.3% to $16.8 million
  • Card-Not-Present fraud fell by 17.7% to $402.6 million

The drop in card-not-present (CNP) fraud, mainly affecting online transactions, is the first ever and coincides in part with the introduction in July 2019 of the industry CNP Fraud Mitigation Framework.

The industry is committed to tackling CNP fraud, which accounts for 87% of all card fraud, and remains vigilant as e-commerce volumes increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information on the data and payment fraud trends, including a “Spotlight on Scams”, read our Payment Fraud Report below and the accompanying Media Release.

Australian Payment Fraud 2020 Report Payment Fraud Statistics Jan - Dec 2019 Revised October 20

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Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards

1 January 2019 - 31 December 2019 (Revised October 2020)

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 680 $4,831,888 57 ^ $602,094 ^ 0.0012% 0.0008%
Australian-issued cards 3,796,069 ^ $464,959,518 ^ 11,010 $819,359 ^ 0.0345% 0.0567%%
Proprietary debit cards 76,068 $14,041,182 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Scheme credit, debit and charge cards 3,720,001 ^ $450,918,336 ^ N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total 3,796,749 $469,791,406 11,067 $1,421,454 0.0343% 0.0331%

 

Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia

1 January 2019 - 31 December 2019

Category Actual Exposure Recoveries*
On-Us Fraud Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($) Value ($)
Valueless 2 44,133 314 10,432,647 37,815
Fraudulently Altered 213 1,465,322 411 6,193,117 159,185
Stolen Blank Cheque / Book 406 1,924,384 1,661 10,022,739 524,473
Originated Counterfeit Cheques 16 413,121 83 2,621,544 94,648
Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques 26 590,998 200 7,338,199 65,207
Breach of Mandate 0 0 37 80,438 0
On-Us Total 663 4,437,958 2,706 36,688,684 881,328
           
Deposit Fraud        
Valueless 13 385,211 308 17,999,276 100,000
Valueless - Kite Flying 0 0 12 276,811 1,375
Third Party Conversion 4 8,719 85 1,060,472 0
Deposit Total 17 393,930 405 19,336,559 101,375
           
Total 680 4,831,888 3,111 56,025,243 982,703

 

* 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 2019 - 31 December 2019

Category Transactions Value

Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used:
Lost/Stolen 17,847 3,409,332
Never Received 2,889 773,250
Counterfeit/Skimming 17,813 5,836,147
Other 6,266 2,029,188
PIN Used Total 44,815 12,047,917
     
Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used:
Lost/Stolen 21,382 1,134,282
Never Received 2,910 143,035
Counterfeit/Skimming 2,072 186,468
Other 4,889 529,480
PIN Not Used Total 31,253 1,993,265
     
Total Debit Card Fraud 76,068 14,041,182

 

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 2019 - 31 December 2019 (Revised October 2020)

Category In Australia Overseas Total

  Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($)
Lost / Stolen 285,284 19,017,363 55,216 11,536,445 340,500 30,553,808
Never Received 16,792 1,917,622 547 120,421 17,339 2,038,042
Fraudulent Application 5,851 1,957,245 1,261 481,136 7,112 2,438,381
Counterfeit / Skimming 42,340 4,518,321 41,447 6,309,248 83,787 10,827,569
Card Not Present (CNP) 1,726,319 224,486,864 1,539,123 178,944,859 3,265,442 403,431,723
Other 3,955 961,179 1,866 667,633 5,821 1,628,812
Total 2,080,541 252,858,593 1,639,460 198,059,743 3,720,001 450,918,336

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 15,953 4,549,358
Never Received 833 158,729
Fraudulent Application 657 141,263
Counterfeit / Skimming 21,016 7,290,557
Card Not Present (CNP) 300,870 82,587,745
Other 2,604 914,936
Total 341,933 95,642,587

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.