New research suggests credit card theft and unauthorised bank account access is now rife across Australia. The report by Galaxy Research shows that more 20 percent Australians aged 16 years or older reported that someone had: stolen their identity; illegally accessed, or tried to access, their bank accounts; stolen or skimmed credit cards; or tried to steal their bank account PIN.
The report commissioned by Veda Advantage found more than 1.5 million Australians had credit cards illegally skimmed, and 1.2 million had bank accounts illegally accessed. Almost 1.2 million, or 7 percent, Australians had personal mail stolen.
Kelvin Kirk, Veda Advantage head of marketing, said the results also indicate younger Australians are at increased risk of identity theft.
“Australians older than 50 years are less likely to have ever experienced bank account or credit card crime, compared to those aged 25 to 49 years, a quarter of whom have been personally affected by identity crime,” Kirk says.
“Credit card crime is especially prevalent, with almost 10 percent of Australians surveyed falling victim to someone either stealing or skimming their credit card. People aged from 25 to 49 years are the most impacted by mail theft.”
Some 34 percent of Australians surveyed reported losing a wallet or purse containing personal identification documents and credit cards, leaving them particularly vulnerable to identity theft.