CREDIT card fraud in Australia jumped to $233 million in the last financial year, up from $157 million in 2006-07, according to the Australian Payments Clearing Association.

The losses are due to increased fraud across borders, and huge rises in card-not-present (CNP) fraud involving online, phone or mail transactions.  Editor's Note: Huge rises in card-not-present fraud can be eliminated by morphing them into card-present transactions with the HomeATM SwipePIN device...)

Total fraud on Australian credit cards amounted to $132 million; of this, $73 million was obtained by criminals using the cards in other countries. More than $63 million was lost to CNP scams ($22 million within Australia and $41.6 million on locally-issued cards used overseas).

Skimmed and counterfeit cards accounted for $42 million in losses ($18 million within Australia, and $24 million on locally issued cards used overseas).

For the first time, losses due to fraud on cards originally issued overseas topped $100 million; criminals using foreign cards within Australia reaped almost $101 million, up from $66 million in 2006-2007.  The number of local cases involving skimmed or counterfeit cards from overseas almost doubled: more than 155,000 incidents were reported, resulting in total losses of $65 million, compared with 82,000 and $40 million the previous year.

At the same time, fraudsters used overseas cards to steal nearly $25 million through CNP transactions locally, up from $16.5 million.

APCA chief executive Chris Hamilton said credit and charge fraud now cost 50.2 cents in every $1000 of payments transacted, up from 38.6 cents previously. 

Debit card fraud increased only slightly, from 7.1 cents to 7.4 cents in every $1000 transacted, reflecting the greater security of Eftpos and ATM networks.