Card fraud on the rise

Credit card fraud is on the rise in Australia, a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows. The ABS estimates that card fraud affected 3.7 per cent of people aged 15 or older in Australia in the year to June 2011, up from 2.4 per cent in 2004.

Losses from credit card fraud were generally low. Around a third said the loss was A$100 or less. More than one quarter said the loss was less than $500.

The ABS said 13 per cent of those affected estimated the value of the fraud at between $500 and $1000. Nineteen per cent put the fraud at between $1000 and $5000. The remainder, 4.5 per cent, put the loss at more than $5000.

On the face of it, the level of losses reported by the ABS is much higher than that implied by the half-yearly data on fraud produced by the Australian Payments Clearing Association.

APCA most recently estimated that payment fraud increased from 9.9 cents to 12.2 cents in every $1000 transacted over the 12 months to June 2011, an estimate that includes all types of payments' fraud and not just credit cards. This is 23 per cent higher than the previous year.

The ABS compiled its estimate from its ongoing household surveys that seek data on the incidence of crime. These surveys, in turn, build on the cornerstone labour-force survey conducted by the bureau.