A new fraud report released by VEDA reveals that fraudulent credit applications involving identity takeovers in Australia rose 59% in the past two years – and 17% in the past 12 months.[i]
The Veda 2015 Cyber Fraud Report, which lays bare the scale of cybercrime and credit application fraud in Australia. The report, an analysis of Veda’s Shared Fraud Database – a consolidation of confirmed credit fraud events across Australia – and consumer research of more than 1,000 Australians about personal information security, highlights the shift by fraudsters towards online and mobile device hacking.
It shows that the online playground for hackers is getting serious, with 50% of credit application fraud in Australia now occurring online – an increase of 33% compared to the previous financial year. This compares with a 23% fall in credit application fraud incidents occurring at bank branches in 201415, compared to 201314.1
Fiona Long, Veda’s Head of Cybercrime, said one in four Australians (25%) now claimed to be a victim of identity theft or fraud. [ii] This means that more than 3.8 million Australians have been victims of fraud.[iii] Ms Long feared this was the “tip of the iceberg”, with many more people likely to be unaware that their data had been stolen or compromised.
[i] Veda Annual Cybercrime Report: Credit Application Fraud Statistics 20122015. Veda Group. September 2015 [ii] Identity Theft in Australia and Australia’s View of Personal Information Security. Veda Group. Online Survey by The Leading Edge. n = 1,047 Australians aged 18+. September 2015 [iii] Analysis based on ABS population figures of 15,443,150 Australians aged 18+ as at July 2013
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