Fraudsters targeting online shoppers in droves
OUR addiction to online shopping is proving a haven for scammers, with one particular type of credit card fraud on the rise. Here’s how you can protect yourself.
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AUSTRALIANS’ addiction to online shopping is proving a haven for fraudsters who are scamming record amounts of money from those spending up.
Alarming new figures released today in the latest Australian Payment Card Fraud 2018 report found that card-not-present fraud — where stolen credit card details are used for a transaction but the card is not physically present — is on the rise.
The report showed this made up 85 per cent of all fraud on Australian cards in 2017.
This compares to 70 per cent in 2012.
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And scammers are successfully stealing a large amount of money from innocent shoppers this way — rising from $418.1 million in 2016 to $476.3 million in 2017.
The self-regulatory body focused on improving the payment system nationally, the Australian Payment Networks’ chief executive officer Dr Leila Fourie, said there’s many ways shoppers can protect themselves.
“Make sure you shop on trusted and secure websites, so look for the locked padlock icon,’’ she said.
“Don’t click on any suspicious emails or text messages that you receive from people you don’t know and never click on those links.”
She also urges shoppers to make sure their bank has all their up-to-date information so they can be contacted if there is fraud on any of their accounts.
An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard urged people to be very careful with giving out any private details.
“Personal information, particularly banking information like credit card numbers, is just as valuable to scammers as the cash in your pocket,’’ she said.
“Scammers use a variety of tactics to get this information, including by pretending to be from well-known brands or government departments.”
Ms Rickard said they will often use “scare tactics” to get customers to hand over their credit card details pretending they are trying to help you.
The other types of fraud including counterfeit/skinning (6 per cent) and lost and stolen cards (7 per cent).
The report also showed a majority of online fraud is done domestically — card-not-present fraud using Australian card details rose by 29 per cent to $227.5 million.
While fraud using Australian cards overseas rose by 3 per cent to $248.9 million.
Originally published as Fraudsters targeting online shoppers in droves