€100m stolen through frauds and scams in Ireland in 2023

Almost €100m was stolen by fraudsters through frauds and scams last year, new data shows.

That represents an increase of 16% on the previous year, according to FraudSMART which collated the information.

95% of total fraudulent transactions and 36% of gross fraud losses were accounted for by card fraud.

Fraudulent card payments were up 8.2% on 2022, compared to an overall increase of 28.8% in debit and credit card payments in the year.

“As many people look forward to the summer holidays ahead, today’s figures are a timely reminder to be on alert for credit and debit card fraud,” said Niamh Davenport, Head of Financial Crime at the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, which runs the FraudSMART campaign.

“We can all be at risk of being enticed by ‘unbelievable’ holiday deals and letting down our guard when out of our regular routines and environments.

“While it is important to recognise that cards remain one of the safest forms of payment, as they come with extensive fraud protections and offer many conveniences especially when planning holidays and travelling, fraudsters are increasingly targeting consumers using complex and deceptive methods.”

However, other forms of fraud had lower volumes but higher average losses than card fraud.

For example, 3% of the volume but 34% of the total losses, representing €33.8m, came from unauthorised electronic transfers.

While consumers and businesses were scammed out of €18.1 million through authorised push payment fraud, when a fraudster tricks a consumer into sending money directly to an account controlled by the criminal.

APP fraud makes up just 1% of fraudulent transactions and 18% of losses.

“FraudSMART is urging holidaymakers to take extra caution when booking travel, accommodation and other holiday-related purchases such as eating out,” said Ms Davenport.

“Watch out for copycat websites offering holiday accommodation and packages which closely mimic a legitimate site or well-known company brand but may have subtle differences in the website name and often have spelling errors.

“These sites aim to steal your card details and personal information for fraudulent activities.”