Fraud Statistics Jul 16 - Jun 17
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 2017, transactions made on Australian cards totalled more than $730.1 billion – up 3.8%. Card fraud increased by 3.1% to $538.2 million:
- counterfeit and skimming fraud dropped 34%
- card-not-present fraud increased 10%, now accounting for 82% of all fraud on Australian cards
As chip technology continues to provide strong protection against counterfeit card, fraud is migrating to online channels.
For further information on this data release, please see the accompanying Media Release.
Payment Fraud Statistics Jun 2017 (Revised Apr 2018)Fraud Perpetrated on Australian Cheques and Cards
1 July 2016 - 30 June 2017 (Revised April 2018)
| Fraud Transactions | Total Transactions | Fraud Rates | ||||
| Number | Value | Number (millions) | Value (millions) | as % of total no. of transactions | as % of total value ($) of transactions | |
| Cheques | 796 | $5,652,927 | 100 | $1,148,175 | 0.0008% | 0.0005% |
| Australian-issued cards | 3,113,852 ^ | $539,956,438 ^ | 8,481 | $730,084 ^ | 0.0367% ^ | 0.0740% |
| Proprietary debit cards | 59,662 | $21,786,124 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Scheme credit, debit and charge cards | 3,054,190 | $518,170,314 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total | 3,114,648 | $545,609,365 | 8,581 | $1,878,259 | 0.0363% | 0.0290% |
^ = Figures have been revised.
Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia
1 July 2016 - 30 June 2017
| Category | Actual | Exposure | Recoveries* |
| On-Us Fraud | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Value ($) |
| Valueless | 1 | 7,387 | 390 | 23,944,449 | 7,440 |
| Fraudulently Altered | 247 | 2,242,841 | 630 | 9,316,359 | 969,483 |
| Stolen Blank Cheque / Book | 442 | 2,325,048 | 1,836 | 10,201,396 | 347,519 |
| Originated Counterfeit Cheques | 31 | 259,326 | 178 | 4,281,704 | 180,000 |
| Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques | 32 | 218,465 | 111 | 5,672,536 | 63,075 |
| Breach of Mandate | 5 | 373,459 | 11 | 569,456 | 26 |
| On-Us Total | 758 | 5,426,526 | 3,156 | 53,985,900 | 1,567,543 |
| Deposit Fraud | |||||
| Valueless | 27 | 125,152 | 169 | 29,964,263 | 37,604 |
| Valueless - Kite Flying | 0 | 0 | 8 | 85,418 | 2,075 |
| Third Party Conversion | 11 | 101,249 | 37 | 2,410,296 | 49,235 |
| Deposit Total | 38 | 226,401 | 214 | 32,459,977 | 88,914 |
| Total | 796 | 5,652,927 | 3,370 | 86,445,877 | 1,656,457 |
* 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 2016 - 30 June 2017
| Category | Transactions | Value |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 8,666 | 2,196,771 |
| Never Received | 3,633 | 1,969,884 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 43,702 | 16,584,896 |
| Other | 1,317 | 714,893 |
| PIN Used Total | 57,318 | 21,466,444 |
| Debit Card Fraud – PIN Not Used: | ||
| Lost/Stolen | 1,541 | 109,856 |
| Never Received | 102 | 16,066 |
| Counterfeit/Skimming | 158 | 98,767 |
| Other | 543 | 94,991 |
| PIN Not Used Total | 2,344 | 319,680 |
| Total Debit Card Fraud | 59,662 | 21,786,124 |
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 2016 - 30 June 2017 (Revised April 2018)
| Category | In Australia | Overseas | Total |
| Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | Transactions | Value ($) | |
| Lost / Stolen | 286,866 | 22,898,948 | 54,253 | 13,323,333 | 341,119 | 36,222,281 |
| Never Received | 47,870 | 6,763,966 | 2,482 | 434,823 | 50,352 | 7,198,789 |
| Fraudulent Application | 9,397 | 3,362,033 | 1,944 | 383,511 | 11,341 | 3,745,544 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 20,300 | 5,406,057 | 66,542 | 20,213,299 | 86,842 | 25,619,356 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 1,028,194 | 194,976,255 | 1,528,770 | 249,117,789 | 2,556,964 | 444,094,044 |
| Other | 3,790 | 1,011,757 | 3,782 | 278,543 | 7,572 | 1,290,300 |
| Total | 1,396,417 | 234,419,016 | 1,657,773 | 283,751,298 | 3,054,190 | 518,170,313 |
Note: The number of fraud transactions does not represent the number of cards or consumers affected. Typically, multiple fraud transactions are made on a single card.
Fraud Perpetrated in Australia on Cards issued Overseas
| Category | Transactions | Value ($) |
| Lost / Stolen | 18,356 | 2,789,610 |
| Never Received | 814 | 98,941 |
| Fraudulent Application | 887 | 106,330 |
| Counterfeit / Skimming | 30,483 | 8,197,442 |
| Card Not Present (CNP) | 246,274 | 52,945,318 |
| Other | 1,909 | 941,113 |
| Total | 298,723 | 65,078,754 |
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.
