The Australian Crime Commission believes there is "large-scale fraud" against Australian banks, but has spelt out only a generic estimate of the costs of this.
In a
report entitled "Organised Crime in Australia 2013", the ACC said: "There is evidence of recent organised criminal involvement in mortgage and loan fraud in Australia, with organised crime groups using false documentation, stolen or fraudulent identities and trusted insiders with experience in the banking or real-estate sectors to commit sophisticated and large-scale fraud against Australian victims and lending institutions."
The ACC said that "in some instances, the identities of home-owners have been stolen by organised crime groups and used to acquire high-value loans, with the property or other assets [being used] as security."
"Often, victims do not realise what has happened until they are contacted by a financial institution with late payment or final demand notices in respect of the loan.
"Fraud perpetrators have also previously used the names of recent immigrants and the elderly to obtain fraudulent loans, resulting in millions of dollars worth of costs to the finance sector each year."
On credit card fraud, where the data is already collated by the Australian Payments Clearing Association, the ACC said the introduction of PIN and chip technology in Australia has "reduced the opportunities for organised crime groups to engage in fraudulent credit card transactions at the point of sale where the card being used to make the purchase is physically present."
However, "overseas-based organised crime groups continue to target Australia for card fraud, with Asian and Romanian card skimming syndicates having recently received coverage in the media."
"Some of these syndicates are involved in activity in multiple crime markets, with the funds obtained from card fraud being used to support other lines of illicit business."
The ACC said the existence of black market web portals allowed organised crime groups to purchase credit card numbers for less than A$1 each if bought in bulk.
Further details, such as card-holder name and expiry date, can be purchased for about $7, and full card details, including identity data, can be bought for between $70 and $80.