Fraud Statistics Jan 20 - Dec 20

As the shift to online shopping accelerated, there was an uptick in online fraud.

Our 2021 Payment Fraud Report reveals that in 2020, with the onset of COVID-19, overall spending on Australian payment cards fell for the first time - dropping 2.2% to $801.7 billion – while card fraud rose by 0.6% to $467.6 million. Accordingly, the card fraud rate was 58.3 cents per $1,000 spent, which was slightly higher than 57.6 cents in 2019 but well below the 73.0 cents per $1,000 spent in 2018.

  • Counterfeit / Skimming fraud fell 34.1% to $11.1 million
  • Fraud on Lost and Stolen cards fell by 24.9% to $26.3 million
  • Card-Not-Present (CNP) fraud increased by 3.8% to $418.9 million

The NAB Online Retail Sales Index estimates that online retail spending grew by 44% in 2020. As face-to-face transactions decreased during the pandemic and online shopping continued to accelerate, there was an uptick in CNP fraud.

AusPayNet’s report also indicates that as measures to counter card fraud take effect, criminal groups are turning their attention to making money from scams. The ACCC reports that Australians lost $851 million to scams in 2020, up 34% on 2019.

This year, AusPayNet has established the Economic Crime Forum, which will bring together a broad set of participants to coordinate a joint response to all economic crime - scams, fraud, financial crime, and banking-related cyber incidents - and share intelligence on emerging threats.

For more information on the data and payment fraud trends, including guidance on how consumers and merchants can reduce fraud risk, read our Payment Fraud Report below and the accompanying Media Release.

Australian Payment Fraud 2021 Report Payment Fraud Statistics Jan - Dec 2020 (Revised November 2021)

View Statistics for Fraud

Click to view statistics on key payments areas

Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards

1 January 2020 - 31 December 2020 (Revised November 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 652 $4,011,665 41 $407,096 0.0016% 0.0010%
Australian-issued cards 4,062,183 ^ $468,977,297 ^ 11,373 ^ $800,920 ^ 0.0357% 0.0586%
Proprietary debit cards 66,047 $11,073,287 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Scheme credit, debit and charge cards 3,996,136 $457,904,010 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total 4,062,835 $472,988,962 11,414 $1,208,016 0.0356% 0.0392%

 

^ = Figures have been revised.

Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia

1 January 2020 - 31 December 2020

Category Actual Exposure Recoveries*
On-Us Fraud Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($) Value ($)
Valueless 11 22,330 161 5,838,147 16,695
Fraudulently Altered 218 1,051,416 463 4,731,400 309,849
Stolen Blank Cheque / Book 317 1,221,457 1,621 15,210,902 109,277
Originated Counterfeit Cheques 27 408,121 79 2,284,325 141,802
Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques 59 1,158,223 590 16,132,131 4,098,741
Breach of Mandate 0 0 9 194,264 0
On-Us Total 632 3,861,547 2,923 44,391,169 4,676,364
           
Deposit Fraud        
Valueless 12 116,721 193 31,446,701 112,786
Valueless - Kite Flying 3 29,503 14 423,991 6,527
Third Party Conversion 5 3,894 157 1,551,265 0
Deposit Total 20 150,118 364 33,421,957 119,313
           
Total 652 4,011,665 3,287 77,813,126 4,795,677

 

* 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 2020 - 31 December 2020

Category Transactions Value

Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used:
Lost/Stolen 16,480 3,428,020
Never Received 1,847 730,722
Counterfeit/Skimming 8,204 2,796,632
Other 6,298 2,024,768
PIN Used Total 32,829 8,980,142
     
Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used:
Lost/Stolen 20,407 987,060
Never Received 4,540 280,248
Counterfeit/Skimming 619 40,128
Other 7,652 785,709
PIN Not Used Total 33,218 2,093,145
     
Total Debit Card Fraud 66,047 11,073,287

 

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 2020 - 31 December 2020 (Revised November 2021)

Category In Australia Overseas Total

  Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($) Transactions Value ($)
Lost / Stolen 217,442 16,556,204 48,789 5,478,476 266,231 22,034,679
Never Received 12,133 1,885,545 592 157,247 12,725 2,042,793
Fraudulent Application 4,899 2,296,398 870 339,109 5,769 2,635,507
Counterfeit / Skimming 49,828 3,169,197 48,842 5,113,277 98,670 8,282,474
Card Not Present (CNP) 1,794,519 264,575,506 1,804,057 155,510,674 3,598,576 420,086,180
Other 6,468 1,171,411 7,697 1,650,966 14,165 2,822,377
Total 2,085,289 289,654,260 1,910,847 168,249,750 3,996,136 457,904,010

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 19,377 3,257,670
Never Received 436 85,857
Fraudulent Application 622 117,880
Counterfeit / Skimming 23,817 4,846,395
Card Not Present (CNP) 323,451 71,751,853
Other 1,963 911,129
Total 369,666 80,970,784

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.