NCJ Number
239509
Date Published
2012
Length
66 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce's (ACFT's) 2010 and 2011 consumer fraud surveys, which provide information on the public's exposure to consumer scams, the impact of consumer scams on victims and their families, how victims respond to the experience, and emerging scam typologies and issues.
Abstract
Both surveys found that a high proportion of respondents had received a scam invitation; however, the majority did not respond. Dating scams impacted the highest number of victims in 2010; and in 2011, lottery scams were the most common scams. Although e-mail continues to be the most common method of contacting potential victims, landline and mobile phones have continued to increase as a means of contacting potential scam victims. Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed in 2010 and 20 percent in 2011 responded in some way to a scam invitation in the 12 months preceding the survey. Two percent of 2010 respondents reported a financial loss, compared with 5 percent in 2011. Nine percent in 2010 and 7 percent in 2011 reported both sending personal details and having experienced a financial loss. Dating scams were the single category most likely to result in a financial loss or the disclosure of personal details by those who had been exposed to this type of scam. The median amount lost to scams was $1,065 in 2010 and $700 in 2011. A total financial loss of $1,345,874 was reported in 2010 and a total loss of $6,999, 718 in 2011. In 2010, 246 persons completed the online survey; and 1,145 persons completed the survey in 2011. A number of methodological limitations make it difficult to generalize the findings to the greater Australasian population. 5 figures and 31 tables