Australians risk losing millions of dollars to Internet fraud, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned yesterday.
Around 1.2 million Australians are using the Internet now - and this is expected to rise to 4.7 million by 2001, Acting ACCC Chairman, Mr Allan Asher, said today. And it is estimated about 108,000 are already shopping via the Net. Sadly, international experience shows that about 10 per cent of the transactions are fraudulent - people using new technology, and old ideas to relieve innocent consumers of their money.
That equates to 3,070 Australians being ripped off on the Internet every week within a few years, Mr Asher said. US estimates for Internet fraud range up to a staggering US$50 million of consumers money lost to fraud on the Internet every week.
These predictions have led the ACCC to lead an international, random sweep of the Internet during the next 24 hours. Those involved in scams on the Internet, such as get-rich-quick schemes, will be in for a shock, with more than thirty agencies from around Australia and the world joining their resources together for this day. The ACCC is co-ordinating this sweep because it is clear that any efforts to combat Internet related scams will be almost useless without an international cooperative effort, Mr Asher said.
To do this the agencies will use search engines, bulletin boards, classifieds, indexes and other information sources and information technologies. Our aim is not to scare people off the Internet but to warn them of the pitfalls and to improve their confidence using the Internet by cleaning it up.
If we can get some of these scams off, or at least reduce their success rates, the Internet will be safer for everyone.
Our objective tasks include:
Identifying scams that may affect consumers; Identifying the operators of those scams using specific software; Warning consumers about the scams and warning operators of the scams of the international moves to stop their activities and the legal consequences they face; Setting up an Internet complaint handling facility (attached to the ACCC webpage); Develop cooperative enforcement strategies and actions between participants; To provide useful information for consumers (attached to the ACCC webpage); Increase international cooperation in this area; To take formal action where appropriate; and To draw the Internet community's mind to these consumer and regulatory issues so that the community can develop self-regulatory initiatives.
Agencies will be exchanging information on suspected scams, tracking down their originators and, if necessary, moving against them.
We expect that this will be the first in a series of sweeps, he said. The ACCC, and other agencies, see the Internet as a new frontier for consumers wanting to trade in the global marketplace.
International protocols for Internet usages are being negotiated now but may take some time to come into effect, so consumer agencies are acting today to clean up the Internet.
The agencies involved include the ACCC, all State/Territory Australian fair trading and consumer affairs bureaux, plus international agencies including the United States, Britain, South Africa, and most European countries.
For further information about this media release: Mr Allan Asher, Acting Chairman, (02 6264 2838 Ms Lin Enright, Director, Public Relations, (02) 6264 2808
Release # MR 136/97
Issued: 15th October 1997
Background
The Australian agencies taking part in the sweep are the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Australian Securities Commission, the Department of Industry, Science and Technology plus the State bureaux of Consumer Affairs and Offices of Fair Trading in the ACT, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria.
The participating international agencies are from Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
It is estimated that 1.2 million Australians currently use the Internet and this is projected to grow to 4.7 million by 2001. The growth in Australian Internet users in the past 12 months has been 96 per cent and about 9 per cent currently buy products via the Internet. It is expected that this will grow to 34 per cent by 2001. It has been estimated that the percentage of Internet transactions involving fraud may be as high as 10 per cent. The ACCC averaged 48 complaints per month this year, up considerably on 1996 when the average was three.
Picture opportunities
Around 60 ACCC officers will be taking part in sweep activities, during the following times.
9am-10am EST: Canberra, Melbourne
10am-11am EST: Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane
11am-12pm EST: Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Townsville
Please contact the following, to arrange admittance to the Sweep Room.
Mr Tim Howes, Regional Director, NSW (02) 9230 9133 Mr Tony Mineely, Regional Director, Victoria (03) 9290 1812 Mr Alan Ducret, Regional Director, Queensland (07) 3835 4666 Ms Lee Hollis, Regional Director, Western Australia (09) 325 3622 Ms Lesley Reardon, South Australia (08) 8205 4242 Mr Peter Clemes, Regional Director, Tasmania (03) 623 45155 Mr Paul Arscott, Director, Townsville (077) 712 712 Mr Derek Farrell, Director, Northern Territory (089) 8943 1499
In Canberra, please contact Ms Jacqui Pearce on (02) 6264 1582.
