Almost half a billion dollars in fraudulent transactions were charged to Australian bank accounts last year as digital deception continues to rise. Industry body the Australian Payments Clearing Association found that 0.025 per cent of all local cheque and card transactions were fraudulent in 2015.
Though a tiny per cent, when applied to $1.92 trillion in total transactions it amounted to $469 million in illegitimate sales. The rate of card fraud jumped 13 per cent to 66.8¢ out of every $1000 spent, driven by a 38 per cent increase in “card not present” fraud at local merchants.