Fraud Statistics Jan 16 - Dec 16
As we spend more than ever on our cards, the rate of fraud is also increasing.
We have been publishing payments fraud statistics as reported by Australia’s financial institutions and major card schemes since 2006.
This publication of the aggregated data helps inform consumers and businesses about payments fraud issues and assists financial institutions in:
- monitoring fraud trends
- developing targeted mitigation strategies
Data released for 2016 calendar year shows:
- Card and cheque fraud accounted for under 0.03% of the $1,869 billion total transacted
- Payments are moving online, so too are fraudsters: card-not-present fraud* accounted for 78% of total card fraud
- Australian card fraud rates compare favourably to the UK and US, reflecting strong industry responses and availability of anti-fraud tools
For further information on this data release, please see the Australian Payments Fraud Report and the accompanying Media Release.
Fraud Statistics for Jan-Dec 2016 Australian Payments Fraud Report Jan-Dec 2016Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards
1 January 2016 - 31 December 2016 (Revised November 2017)
| Fraud Transactions | Total Transactions | Fraud Rates | ||||
| Number | Value | Number (millions) | Value (millions) | as % of total no. of transactions | as % of total value ($) of transactions | |
| Cheques | 904 | $6,406,873 | 112 | $1,154,864 | 0.0008% | 0.0006% |
| Australian-issued cards^ | 2,848,033 | $534,691,899 | 8,051 | $714,494 | 0.0354% | 0.0748% |
| Proprietary debit cards | 66,998 | $23,672,095 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Scheme credit, debit and charge cards | 2,781,035 | $511,019,804 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total | 2,848,937 | $541,098,772 | 8,163 | $1,869,358 | 0.0349% | 0.0289% |
^ = Figures have been revised.
Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia
1 January 2016 - 31 December 2016
| Category | Actual | Exposure | Recoveries* |
| On-Us Fraud | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Value ($) |
| Valueless | 1 | 7,387 | 427 | 45,930,527 | 1,885 |
| Fraudulently Altered | 318 | 2,139,401 | 588 | 10,127,975 | 666,791 |
| Stolen Blank Cheque / Book | 429 | 2,199,950 | 1,549 | 9,968,507 | 276,197 |
| Originated Counterfeit Cheques | 65 | 416,734 | 196 | 4,686,999 | 50,917 |
| Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques | 48 | 572,111 | 141 | 3,623,139 | 102,940 |
| Breach of Mandate | 17 | 904,041 | 14 | 596,346 | 37,133 |
| On-Us Total | 878 | 6,239,624 | 2,915 | 74,933,493 | 1,135,863 |
| Deposit Fraud | |||||
| Valueless | 19 | 115,306 | 217 | 12,336,108 | 72,040 |
| Valueless - Kite Flying | 1 | 5,000 | 20 | 590,496 | 750 |
| Third Party Conversion | 6 | 46,943 | 28 | 332,478 | 46,589 |
| Deposit Total | 26 | 167,249 | 265 | 13,259,082 | 119,379 |
| Total | 904 | 6,406,873 | 3,180 | 88,192,575 | 1,255,242 |
* 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 2016 - 31 December 2016
| Category | Transactions | Value |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 8,965 | 2,283,510 |
| Never Received | 3,908 | 2,085,545 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 51,353 | 18,337,099 |
| Other | 1,199 | 635,437 |
| PIN Used Total | 65,425 | 23,341,591 |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 820 | 64,290 |
| Never Received | 167 | 25,883 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 562 | 183,159 |
| Other | 24 | 57,172 |
| PIN Not Used Total | 1,573 | 330,504 |
| Total Debit Card Fraud | 66,998 | 23,672,095 |
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 2016 - 31 December 2016 (Revised November 2017)
| Category | In Australia | Overseas | Total |
| Lost / Stolen | 273,662 | 21,412,515 | 51,777 | 13,937,158 | 325,439 | 35,349,673 |
| Never Received | 67,361 | 7,633,522 | 2,876 | 596,092 | 70,237 | 8,229,614 |
| Fraudulent Application | 8,992 | 2,423,690 | 2,751 | 1,314,111 | 11,743 | 3,737,801 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 24,578 | 7,276,322 | 91,727 | 33,450,329 | 116,305 | 40,726,651 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 831,605 | 175,800,719 | 1,396,689 | 242,332,417 | 2,228,294 | 418,133,135 |
| Other | 12,767 | 2,634,114 | 16,250 | 2,208,816 | 29,017 | 4,842,930 |
| Total | 1,218,965 | 217,180,881 | 1,562,070 | 293,838,923 | 2,781,035 | 511,019,803 |
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 | 15,050 | 2,846,063 |
| Never Received | 764 | 63,157 |
| Fraudulent Application | 606 | 133,746 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 33,485 | 8,803,594 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 234,222 | 54,950,790 |
| Other | 1,579 | 876,287 |
| Total | 285,706 | 67,673,637 |
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.
