Statistics about personal fraud, including card fraud, identity theft, and scams (phishing, romance, computer support, financial advice and more).
In 2022-23:
Statistics discussed in the commentary refer to experiences which occurred in the 12 months prior to interview (conducted between July 2022 and June 2023), referred to as the 2022-23 reference period.
Any differences between population groups or reference periods described in the commentary are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
For more information about statistical significance and relative standard error, refer to the Personal Fraud Methodology, 2022-23 financial year.
Card fraud involves the use of credit, debit, or EFTPOS card details to make purchases or withdraw cash without the account owner's permission.
In 2022-23, an estimated 8.7% of persons (1.8 million) experienced card fraud, which was higher than the rate in 2021-22 (8.1%).
Females (9.5%) were more likely than males (7.8%) to experience card fraud.
The card fraud victimisation rate varied by age, ranging from 3.9% for persons aged 15 to 24 years, to 12% for persons aged 45 to 54 years.
The following groups were more likely to experience card fraud:
Nearly all persons who experienced card fraud in 2022-23 notified (or were notified by) an authority about the most recent incident (98%), most commonly a bank or financial institution (92%).
One in three persons (34%) had less than $100 withdrawn or used in the most recent incident of card fraud, while one in six (18%) had more than $1,000 withdrawn or used.
In the most recent incident of card fraud:
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.
In the context of the survey, experiencing a scam meant the person responded to a scam by seeking further information, providing money or personal information, or accessing links associated with the scam.
For definitions of specific scams, refer to the Glossary.
In 2022-23, an estimated 2.5% of persons (514,300) experienced a scam, which was similar to the rate in 2021-22 (2.7%).
Males (2.3%) and females (2.6%) experienced a scam at a similar rate.
The scam victimisation rate varied by age, with those aged 15 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years being less likely to experience a scam (1.5% and 1.8%) than older age groups.
In 2022-23, the most common type of scam people experienced was a buying or selling scam (1.0% or 199,200), followed by an information request or phishing scam (0.6% or 134,700).
Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, the victimisation rate decreased for the following scam types:
Over the same time period, the victimisation rate increased for the following scam types:
| 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information request or phishing | 1.0% | 0.8% | (b)0.6% |
| Computer support | 0.3% | 0.2% | (b)0.1% |
| Financial advice | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Upfront payment | 0.4% | 0.2% | (b)0.4% |
| Buying or selling | 0.8% | 0.8% | (b)1.0% |
| Relationship or romance | 0.1% | *0.1% | 0.1% |
| Threats or extortion | na | 0.2% | *0.1% |
* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.
Na Not available
Most people who experienced a scam in 2022-23 experienced only one type of scam (89%).
In 2022-23, over two in three persons (69% or 356,800) who experienced a scam notified (or were notified by) an authority about the most serious scam incident, which was an increase from 2021-22 (57%). This was driven by an increase in the proportion of persons notifying or being notified by a bank or financial institution, from 32% in 2021-22 to 49% in 2022-23.
| 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank or financial institution | 27.3% | 32.2% | (c)48.9% |
| Social media or selling site | 8.7% | 11.1% | 9.7% |
| Government organisation or department | 8.4% | 11.8% | 8.7% |
| Police | 8.2% | 13.9% | 12.6% |
| Other | 9.8% | 9.9% | 8.9% |
| Any authority(b) | 49.5% | 57.4% | (c)69.4% |
Females (75%) were more likely than males (64%) to report their most serious scam incident to an authority.
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.
In 2022-23, an estimated 1.0% of persons (199,100) experienced identity theft, which was similar to the rate in 2021-22 (0.8%).
Males (0.9%) and females (1.0%) experienced identity theft at a similar rate.
In 2022-23, most (71% or 141,800) of the people who experienced identity theft notified (or were notified by) an authority about the most recent incident, most commonly a bank or financial institution (38%).
Of those who experienced identity theft, one in three (33% or 65,600) said the stolen personal information was used to obtain money from a bank account, superannuation, or investments/shares.
Online impersonation occurs when someone’s personal details have been purposefully misused to impersonate them online or by phone, without their permission.
In 2022-23, an estimated 2.1% of persons (434,300) experienced online impersonation, down from 2.5% in 2021-22.
Males (1.9%) and females (2.2%) experienced online impersonation at a similar rate.
The rate of online impersonation varied by age, with those aged 65 years and over less likely to experience online impersonation (1.4%) than persons in all other age categories.
The following groups were more likely to experience online impersonation:
Experiences of card fraud, selected scams, identity theft and online impersonation. Includes victimisation rates, reporting rates, socio-demographic characteristics, and incident characteristics.
List of data items collected in the survey.
All Personal Fraud, 2022-23 data download files.
People aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of private dwellings.
Excludes:
Data available for:
Multipurpose Household Survey
Interviews were conducted by telephone with responses directly recorded in an electronic questionnaire.
Proxy interviews were permissible under certain circumstances.
Not applicable to this release
Not applicable to this release