NCJ Number
222392
Date Published
February 2008
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings from the Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) 2007 campaign’s online survey and other sources to provide an indication of how consumer fraud reporting behavior was affected by the extensive publicity during the campaign.
Abstract
On the basis of the evidence presented in this report, it appears that the extensive publicity campaign conducted by government agencies at all levels in Australia and New Zealand, working in conjunction with private-sector organizations and nongovernment agencies, was effective in raising awareness of the risks of consumer fraud throughout the community and increasing the reporting of cases. It is hoped that the continued use of awareness-raising activities, such as those employed during the Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) campaigns and other sources of information, will help to reduce the incidence of scam victimization as consumers become more familiar with the types of risks that are present. As part of a global effort to fight mass-marketed consumer scams, each year consumer protection agencies in 33 western countries participate in a month of fraud prevention activities to raise awareness of the problem and to provide advice to consumers on how to avoid being victimized. In Australia and New Zealand, 19 government agencies comprise the ACFT, which conducted a campaign in March 2007 with the theme ‘Scams target you--protect yourself’. This report describes the activities undertaken by the ACFT and assesses the impact that the publicity had on official reporting of scams by consumers. The results of an online survey of 841 self-selected respondents are also presented. Table, figures, and references