Australia: Online shopping scams via credit cards lead to fraud growth

According to data from the Australian Payments Clearing Association, despite a big drop in counterfeit or skimming fraud as a result of the new chip technology, overall fraud was up 1% in the 2012-13 financial year.

Online shoppers are being hardest hit by fraudsters as almost USD 280 million was fleeced from Australians through credit card crime in 2012.

Results also show that the biggest growth in fraud occurred in online shopping wesites, where almost USD 200 million was ripped off.

Fraud using stolen or lost Australian-issued cards overseas jumped 33% to USD 9.6 million, while local criminals were responsible for a 32% increase to USD 20.8 million. But it was the 5% lift in online fraud that most worries the banking sector.