Fraud Statistics Jul 17 - Jun 18
As we spend more than ever on our cards, the rate of fraud is also increasing.
We collect payments fraud statistics from Australia’s financial institutions and major card schemes twice-yearly.
Tacking card fraud is a key priority for industry. We publish the aggregated data to help increase awareness about fraud trends, prevention and security, and to assist financial institutions in:
- monitoring fraud trends
- developing targeted mitigation strategies
In the 12 months to 30 June 2018, transactions made on Australian cards totalled more than $767 billion – up 5.1%. Card fraud grew at a slightly slower rate, increasing by 4.8% to $565 million:
- counterfeit and skimming fraud dropped 45.7% to $23 million
- card-not-present fraud increased 7.8% to $478 million, now accounting for 85% of all fraud on Australian cards
As chip technology continues to provide strong protection against counterfeit card, fraud is migrating to online channels.
For further information on this data release, please see the accompanying Media Release.
Fraud Statistics Jul 17 - Jun 18 Revised Oct 20Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards
1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018 (Revised October 2020)
| Fraud Transactions | Total Transactions | Fraud Rates | ||||
| Number | Value | Number (millions) | Value (millions) | as % of total no. of transactions | as % of total value ($) of transactions | |
| Cheques | 637 | $4,649,080 | 81 ^ | $1,022,836 ^ | 0.0008% | 0.0005% |
| Australian-issued cards | 4,006,046 | $566,875,746 | 9,452 | $767,402 | 0.0424% | 0.0739% |
| Proprietary debit cards | 48,646 | $14,364,369 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Scheme credit, debit and charge cards | 3,957,400 | $552,511,377 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total | 4,006,683 | $571,524,826 | 9,533 | $1,790,234 | 0.0420% | 0.0319% |
^ = Figures have been revised.
Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia
1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018
| Category | Actual | Exposure | Recoveries* |
| On-Us Fraud | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Value ($) |
| Valueless | 4 | 304,500 | 531 | 16,927,816 | 665,320 |
| Fraudulently Altered | 156 | 1,508,511 | 319 | 4,674,053 | 580,835 |
| Stolen Blank Cheque / Book | 374 | 1,707,481 | 1,649 | 9,813,602 | 213,657 |
| Originated Counterfeit Cheques | 24 | 190,740 | 128 | 1,174,301 | 694,612 |
| Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques | 31 | 235,658 | 153 | 7,933,881 | 167,098 |
| Breach of Mandate | 4 | 66,932 | 7 | 1,005,947 | 0 |
| On-Us Total | 593 | 4,013,822 | 2,787 | 41,529,600 | 2,321,522 |
| Deposit Fraud | |||||
| Valueless | 21 | 189,527 | 443 | 13,087,672 | 544,089 |
| Valueless - Kite Flying | 10 | 408,371 | 26 | 1,705,173 | 424,675 |
| Third Party Conversion | 13 | 37,360 | 33 | 142,820 | 9,263 |
| Deposit Total | 44 | 635,258 | 502 | 14,935,665 | 978,027 |
| Total | 637 | 4,649,080 | 3,289 | 56,465,265 | 3,299,549 |
* 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 July 2017 - 30 June 2018
| Category | Transactions | Value |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 12,518 | 3,225,826 |
| Never Received | 3,405 | 1,519,660 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 23,761 | 7,877,797 |
| Other | 1,853 | 1,080,223 |
| PIN Used Total | 41,537 | 13,703,506 |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 4,411 | 312,290 |
| Never Received | 1,464 | 98,536 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 440 | 152,102 |
| Other | 794 | 97,935 |
| PIN Not Used Total | 7,109 | 660,863 |
| Total Debit Card Fraud | 48,646 | 14,364,369 |
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 July 2017 - 30 June 2018 (Revised May 2019)
| Category | In Australia | Overseas | Total |
| Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | |
| Lost / Stolen | 372,771 | 31,680,462 | 78,801 | 16,008,239 | 451,572 | 47,688,701 |
| Never Received | 34,353 | 5,864,153 | 2,064 | 401,735 | 36,417 | 6,265,898 |
| Fraudulent Application | 6,878 | 1,758,990 | 2,050 | 647,448 | 8,928 | 2,406,438 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 19,480 | 4,692,259 | 40,311 | 10,310,772 | 59,791 | 15,003,031 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 1,819,875 | 249,949,553 | 1,573,064 | 229,382,911 | 3,392,939 | 479,332,464 |
| Other | 3,865 | 919,273 | 3,888 | 895,573 | 7,753 | 1,814,846 |
| Total | 2,257,222 | 294,864,700 | 1,700,178 | 257,646,677 | 3,957,400 | 552,511,378 |
Note: The number of fraud transactions does not represent the number of cards or consumers affected. Typically, multiple fraud transactions are made on a single card.
Fraud Perpetrated in Australia on Cards issued Overseas
| Category | Transactions | Value ($) |
| Lost / Stolen | 30,809 | 3,664,252 |
| Never Received | 911 | 99,822 |
| Fraudulent Application | 2,241 | 137,465 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 26,458 | 6,522,771 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 425,242 | 72,536,558 |
| Other | 3,256 | 885,391 |
| Total | 488,917 | 83,846,259 |
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.
