Personal Fraud

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Statistics about personal fraud, including card fraud, identity theft, and scams (phishing, romance, computer support, financial advice and more).

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Reference period
2021-22 financial year
Released
22/02/2023
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Key statistics

  • Card fraud increased from 6.9% in 2020-21 to 8.1% in 2021-22
  • Scam exposure increased from 55% in 2020-21 to 65% in 2021-22
  • Scam victimisation rate decreased from 3.6% in 2020-21 to 2.7% in 2021-22

Most statistics discussed in the commentary refer to experiences which occurred in the 12 months prior to interview (conducted between July 2021 and June 2022), referred to as the 2021-22 reference period.

Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are referred to in the text, unless otherwise stated. Any differences between population groups or reference periods mentioned in the commentary are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (refer to Methodology for more information).

Summary

In 2021-22:

  • 8.1% of persons (1.7 million) experienced card fraud
  • 2.7% of persons (552,000) experienced a scam
  • 0.8% of persons (159,600) experienced identity theft
  • 2.5% of persons (509,500) experienced online impersonation
  1. Victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who experienced each fraud type in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons aged 15 years and over.

Card fraud

Card fraud involves the use of credit, debit, or EFTPOS card details to make purchases or withdraw cash without the account owner's permission.

An estimated 8.1% of persons (1.7 million) experienced card fraud, which was higher than the rate in 2020-21 (6.9%).

Men (8.4%) and women (7.8%) experienced card fraud at a similar rate.

The victimisation rate for card fraud varied by age, with persons aged 15-24 years the least likely to experience card fraud (4.6%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who experienced card fraud in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.

The following groups were more likely to experience card fraud:

  • persons who have a non-school qualification (such as a certificate, diploma or degree) (9.5%) compared with persons who do not (5.8%)
  • persons living in households in the highest quintile of equivalised weekly household income (10.9%) compared with persons in all other quintiles (ranging from 7.0% to 8.2%)

Characteristics of the most recent incident

Nearly all persons who experienced card fraud in 2021-22 reported the most recent incident to an authority (97% or 1.6 million), most commonly to a bank or financial institution (91%).

  1. Reporting rate refers to the total number of persons who reported the most recent incident of card fraud to an authority, expressed as a percentage of the total number of persons that experienced card fraud in the last 12 months.
  2. Includes incidents where an organisation notified the respondent.
  3. The most recent incident of card fraud may have been reported to more than one authority.

More than half of those who experienced card fraud didn’t know how their personal details were obtained in the most recent incident (59% or 982,500). Common ways details were known to have been obtained were:

  • internet (21% or 338,200)
  • card details copied or obtained during use (9.6% or 158,700)
  • in person (5.1% or 84,300)
  • phone call (2.6% or 42,800)

Scams

A scam is a fraudulent invitation, request, notification, or offer, designed to obtain personal information or money, or otherwise obtain a financial benefit by deceptive means. For definitions of specific scams refer to the Glossary.

The 2021-22 Personal Fraud Survey collected two distinct scam concepts:

  • Exposed to a scam: A person was considered to have been exposed to a scam if they had received an unsolicited invitation, request, notification or offer, and read, viewed, or listened to the material. This is a measure of how many people are encountering scams in the community. In this survey, mere exposure to a scam does not constitute being a victim of a scam.
  • Responded to a scam: A person is considered to have responded to a scam if, after being exposed to the scam, they sought further information, provided money or personal information, or accessed links associated with the scam. In this survey, only those who responded to a scam were considered to have been a victim of (experienced) a scam.

Note: due to the deceptive nature of scams, people may not always be aware that they have been exposed to or responded to a scam, see Methodology for more information.

Diagram 1: Experiences of scams in the last 12 months

The flow chart's top level shows that there are 20.4 million persons aged 15 years and over in Australia in 2021-22. Second level of the flow chart shows that of these 20.4 million persons, 13.2 million were exposed to a scam and 7.2 million were not exposed to a scam. Third level of the flow chart shows that of the 13.2 million persons exposed to a scam, 552,000 persons responded to a scam and 12.3 million persons did not respond to a scam.

The flow chart's top level shows that there are 20.4 million persons aged 15 years and over in Australia in 2021-22. Second level of the flow chart shows that of these 20.4 million persons, 13.2 million were exposed to a scam and 7.2 million were not exposed to a scam. Third level of the flow chart shows that of the 13.2 million persons exposed to a scam, 552,000 persons responded to a scam and 12.3 million persons did not respond to a scam.

  1. Includes persons who were exposed to a scam but did not know if they had responded to a scam or not.

Scam exposure rate refers to the number of persons who were exposed to a scam, expressed as a percentage of total persons.

Scam victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who responded to a scam, expressed as a percentage of total persons. Also referred to in this publication as persons who experienced a scam.

Scam responding rate refers to the number of persons who responded to a scam, expressed as a percentage of total persons who were exposed to a scam (included in data downloads only).

Scam exposure

An estimated 65% of persons (13.2 million) were exposed to a scam, which was higher than the rate in 2020-21 (55%).

Men (65%) and women (65%) were exposed to a scam at the same rate.

The scam exposure rate varied by age, with those aged 15 to 24 years being the least likely to be exposed to a scam (53%).

  1. Exposure rate refers to the number of persons who were exposed to a scam in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.

The following groups were more likely to be exposed to a scam:

  • persons who have a non-school qualification (such as a certificate, diploma or degree) (70%) compared with persons who did not (56%)
  • persons living in an area in the highest quintile (least disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (69%) compared with those living in the lowest quintile (60%)

Mode of scam exposure

People were most commonly exposed to a scam over the phone (48% or 9.8 million) or via text message (47% or 9.5 million).

All modes of scam exposure increased from 2020-21 to 2021-22, the largest increases were for text messages (23% to 47%) and over the phone (38% to 48%).

  1. Exposure rate refers to the number of persons who were exposed to a scam via a particular mode in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons aged 15 years and over.
  2. Respondents may have been exposed to scams via more than one mode.
  3. Data on mode of scam exposure for 2020-21 can be found in table 10a of Personal Fraud 2020-21.

Exposure rate by scam type

The most common types of scams people were exposed to in 2021-22 were:

  • Information request or phishing scams (44% or 8.9 million)
  • Financial advice scams (18% or 3.8 million)
  • Buying or selling scams (18% or 3.7 million)
  • Computer support (17% or 3.5 million)

The exposure rate for the following scams increased between 2020-21 and 2021-22:

  • Information request or phishing scams (from 34% to 44%)
  • Financial advice scams (from 13% to 18%)
  • Buying or selling scams (from 9.2% to 18%)
  • Computer support scams (from 16% to 17%)
  • Upfront payment scams (from 11% to 15%)
  • Relationship or romance scams (from 4.4% to 5.3%)
  • Pyramid scams (from 2.5% to 2.9%)

Lottery scams decreased over the same time period (from 9.1% to 7.8%).

  1. Exposure rate refers to the number of persons who were exposed to a scam type in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons aged 15 years and over.

Scam victimisation

An estimated 2.7% of persons (552,000) experienced a scam, meaning they were exposed to a scam and responded by seeking further information, providing money or personal information, or accessing links associated with the scam, which was lower than the rate in 2020-21 (3.6%).

Men (2.7%) and women (2.7%) experienced a scam at the same rate.

The scam victimisation rate varied by age, with those aged 15 to 24 years being less likely to experience scam victimisation (1.8%) than the national average (2.7%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who experienced a scam in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.

The following groups were more likely to experience a scam:

  • persons who live in a capital city (2.9%) compared with persons who live outside of a capital city (2.2%)
  • persons who have a non-school qualification (such as a certificate, diploma or degree) (3.0%) compared with persons who did not (2.2%)

Victimisation rate by scam type

The most common types of scams people experienced in 2021-22 were:

  • Information request or phishing scams (0.8% or 169,900)
  • Buying or selling scams (0.8% or 169,500)

The victimisation rate for the following scam types decreased between 2020-21 and 2021-22:

  • Information request or phishing scams (from 1.0% to 0.8%)
  • Computer support scams (from 0.3% to 0.2%)
  • Upfront payment scams (from 0.4% to 0.2%)

Over the same time period the victimisation rates for the other comparable scam types remained similar.

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who experienced the scam type in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons.
  2. Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Reporting of the most serious incident

Respondents who experienced one or more scams in the previous 12 months were asked about the characteristics of the most serious incident. The most serious incident was determined by the respondent.

Approximately 57% of persons (316,800) who experienced a scam reported their most serious incident to an authority, which was an increase from 2020-21 (50%).

When examined by type of authority, reporting to:

  • A bank or financial institution remained the most common (32%)
  • Police increased between 2020-21 (8.2%) and 2021-22 (14%)
  1. Reporting rate refers to the total number of persons who reported the most serious incident of scam to an authority, expressed as a percentage of the total number of persons that experienced a scam in the last 12 months.
  2. Includes incidents where an organisation notified the respondent.
  3. The most serious incident of scam victimisation may have been reported to more than one authority.

Women (63%) were more likely than men (54%) to report their most serious scam incident to an authority.

The reporting rate varied by scam type, ranging from 40% for computer support scams to 66% for buying or selling scams.

  1. Reporting rate refers to the total number of persons who reported the most serious incident of scam to an authority, expressed as a percentage of the total number of persons who identified that scam type as their most serious scam in the last 12 months.
  2. Includes incidents where an organisation notified the respondent.

Identity theft

Identity theft is the use of someone’s personal details in stolen, fraudulent, or forged documents without permission, or otherwise illegally appropriating another’s identity.

An estimated 0.8% of persons (159,600) experienced identity theft, which was the same as the rate in 2020-21 (0.8%).

Men (0.8%) and women (0.7%) experienced identity theft at a similar rate.

Characteristics of the most recent incident

Due to the low prevalence of identity theft in Australia, the characteristics information refers to the most recent incident of identity theft experienced in the 5 years prior to survey.

In the five years prior to the survey, an estimated 2.6% of persons (537,200) experienced identity theft. The majority (95% or 508,000) reported the most recent incident to an authority, most commonly a bank or financial institution (69%).

  1. Reporting rate refers to the total number of persons who reported the most recent incident of identity theft to an authority, expressed as a percentage of the total number of persons that experienced identity theft in the last 5 years.
  2. Includes incidents where an organisation notified the respondent.
  3. The most recent incident of identity theft may have been reported to more than one authority.
  4. Not all authorities are included, more data can be found in table 8.

Of those who experienced identity theft, the stolen personal information was commonly used:

  • to obtain money from a bank account, superannuation, or investments or shares (56% or 300,000)
  • to open new accounts, including phone and utilities (16% or 84,000)
  • to apply for a loan or gain credit (7.9% or 42,300)
  • to provide false information to police (3.3% or 17,700)

Online impersonation

The 2021-22 survey collected data on the prevalence of online impersonation for the first time. Online impersonation is when someone’s personal details have been purposefully misused to impersonate them online or by phone without their permission.

An estimated 2.5% of persons (509,500) experienced online impersonation in 2021-22.

Men (2.5%) and women (2.5%) experienced online impersonation at the same rate.

The online impersonation victimisation rate varied by age, with those aged 65 years and over being less likely to experience online impersonation (1.8%) than the national average (2.5%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the number of persons who experienced online impersonation in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.

The following groups were more likely to experience online impersonation:

  • persons who have a non-school qualification (such as a certificate, diploma or degree) (2.9%) compared with persons who do not (1.9%)
  • persons living in households in the highest (3.3%) and second highest quintile (3.1%) of equivalised weekly household income compared with persons in the lowest quintile (2.1%)

Data downloads

Personal fraud (Tables 1a to 14b)

Experiences of personal fraud including card fraud, selected scams, identity theft and online impersonation. Includes: victimisation rates, reporting rates, key socio-demographic characteristics and incident characteristics.

Data files
Download xlsx [191.41 KB]

Data item list

List of data items collected in the survey. 

Data files
Download xlsx [459.28 KB]

All data downloads

All Personal Fraud, 2021-22 data download files.

Data files
Download zip [369.99 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4528.0.

Methodology

Personal Fraud methodology, 2021-22 financial year

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