Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, August 2012
Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice, Jason Clare, and Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury have released the results of the AIC’s 2010 and 2011 online scam survey held in partnership with the Australasian Consumer Fraud Task Force.
Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce: Results of the 2010 and 2011 online consumer fraud surveys is a snapshot of the public’s exposure to consumer scams, and will help researchers and law enforcement measure the impact of scams on victims and their families, to identify any new scam types and issues.
The easy access criminal scammmers can have to email and phone accounts mean they have become a significant problem for Australians. The ABS conducted a Personal Fraud survey in 2010–11 which estimated $1.4b had been lost over the 12 months as a result of scams, identity theft and credit card fraud.
In the AIC’s online survey, the median amount lost to scams was $1,065 in 2010 and $700 in 2011. A total financial loss of $6,999,718 was reported in 2011.