Fraudsters hard at work to get your cash

FATHER-of-two Mike Mason hadn’t travelled to the US recently, nor had he given out his bank account details, but that didn’t stop fraudsters getting hold of his cash.

On his way to work one morning, he received a text from his bank to say there had been a suspicious transaction on his credit card of $2500 from Louisiana, more than 14,000km away.

And unfortunately Mr Mason is not alone. In the 2016-17 financial year Australians lost a massive $538.2 million to card fraud.

“Card-not-present” fraud – like Mr Mason’s experience – soared by 10 per cent and now accounts for 82 per cent of all fraud on Australian cards.

“When this happened the first thing I thought was how the heck did they get my card details and I still can’t put my finger on how that happened,’’ he said.

“Ten years ago if that had happened I wouldn’t have noticed for weeks but now you get notified almost instantly.”

He said one of the most frustrating aspects was having to realign direct debits to link to his new credit card.

New Westpac figures have revealed 40 per cent of Australians have experienced some form of fraud in their lifetime and many criminals are caught using the card in real time, with some transactions even being declined on the spot.

Credit card fraud is the most common (43 per cent) following by fraudsters tackling transaction accounts (31 per cent.)

And the biggest concern around fraud is related to using a card online or travelling overseas, when sharing details over the phone or using tap and pay technology.

Westpac’s executive manager of financial crime management, Benjamin Young, said that in many cases fraudsters were using a person’s card number, expiry date and CCV online.

“Around 80 per cent of our fraud is under $1000 and I think 60 per cent is under $500,’’ he said.

“A lot of this comes from database hacks who may not have the best security and may have their card details extracted to buy smaller value goods mostly.”

Mr Young said that it was vital customers always give their bank up-to-date contact details so they can be contacted quickly if something does go wrong.