Online shopping scams reported in Australia 2015-2021

Over 20 thousand instances of online shopping scams were reported in Australia in 2021. The reported cases of online shopping scams have been on the rise since 2015.

Online shopping scams

  Online shopping scams in Australia are fraudulent activities carried out through the internet with the intent of tricking consumers into paying for non-existent or substandard goods or services, or items that are never delivered. These frauds can take many forms, including fake websites, phishing emails, social media ads, and online marketplaces. According to Scamwatch, a program run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), around 20 thousand online retail frauds were reported by Australians in 2021, resulting in losses of more than $8 million Australian dollars.

Online shopping behavior in Australia

  Like the rest of the world, Australia has seen a significant increase in online retail sales since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a survey on the activities performed online by internet users conducted in June 2022, 87 percent of respondents stated that they used the internet for online shopping. Another survey conducted in the same month showed that the largest number of purchases were made in the homeware and appliances category, making 22.7 percent of total online expenditure in Australia. This was followed by the department stores segment with 16.8 percent of online spending.