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
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