The harm and cost to our community

Cybercrime causes large losses and widespread harm to the Victorian community.

Victims of cybercrime can suffer a range of harms, including financial, physical and sexual. Victims can also suffer serious psychological, emotional and social harms that can have a long-lasting impact on the victim. Victims can experience reputational damage, which can affect their personal and professional lives and cause serious mental health trauma.

Cybercrime also has significant economic costs.

One in seven Australian adults —2.8 million people— had been a victim of cyber-dependent crime in 2020. One in three had been a victim of cyber-dependent crime in their lifetime.¹⁴

The Australian Federal Police estimates that business email compromise scams – a cybercrime technique where legitimate funds transfers are redirected to alternative accounts – cost Australian businesses more than $79 million in the 2020–2021 financial year.

Cyber-dependent crime is a highly profitable criminal activity and results in significant financial losses to Australians with only a small proportion of financial losses recovered by victims.¹⁵

The cost of cyber-dependent crime to Australian individuals in 2019 was $3.5 billion.

$1.9 billion in money directly lost by victims.
$597 million spent dealing with the consequences of victimisation.
$1.4 billion spent to prevent falling victim.

Victims recovered approximately $389 million.¹⁶

The [Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission] assesses that cybercrime is leading to severe and long-term harms, … beyond the financial losses incurred and include significant psychological, emotional and social harms. This is particularly pertinent in cases where the crime is psychosocial in nature, such as the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and cyberbullying.

^{14 Coen Teunissen, Isabella Voce and Russell Smith, 2021, Estimating the cost of pure cybercrime to Australian individuals. Statistical Bulletin no. 34. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.}

^{15 Coen Teunissen, Isabella Voce and Russell Smith, 2021, Estimating the cost of pure cybercrime to Australian individuals. Statistical Bulletin no. 34.}

^{16 Coen Teunissen, Isabella Voce and Russell Smith, 2021, Estimating the cost of pure cybercrime to Australian individuals. Statistical Bulletin no. 34. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.}

^{17 Department of Home Affairs, December 2020, Discussion Paper: National Plan to Combat Cybercrime}

Updated 15 November 2022