Dublin— The volume of fraudulent payments in Ireland surged by 40% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the Central Bank’s latest Payment Fraud Statistics. The total value of these fraudulent payments also increased significantly, climbing nearly 25% to reach €160 million over the period.
The dramatic increase in fraud volume is primarily fueled by activities involving e-money transactions and money remittances.
E-money and Remittance Fraud Explode
The Central Bank figures reveal a staggering growth in specific payment categories:
- E-money fraud saw a massive jump, rising from €3.3 million in 2023 to €25.6 million in 2024.
- Fraudulent money remittances more than doubled, increasing from €8.2 million to €20.4 million.
Overall, online payments accounted for over three-quarters of all payment fraud during the year. While card payment fraud saw a slight increase, direct debit, credit transfers, and cheque fraud all registered a decline.
Shared Responsibility: Banks and Consumers
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Niamh Davenport, Head of Financial Crime at Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), emphasized the shared responsibility between financial institutions and individuals in preventing scams.
“Banks are introducing more measures, for example, the new name checking tools which have come in under SEPA verification,” said Ms. Davenport. “However, because fraudsters are targeting consumers directly and convincing them to make the payments rather than hacking into bank systems, individuals also must play a key part in it.”
The BPFI’s own FraudSmart research highlights the urgency, showing that one in five regular online shoppers lost money through scams last year, with some losing “hundreds and thousands of euro.”
Ms. Davenport urged the public to follow strict safety advice:
- “Never click on links in unsolicited communications, text, [or] emails.”
- “Only use websites and trusted retailers that you’ve used before.”
- “If somebody asks you to use your account or to move money to a ‘safe account,’ just say no and really think about what you’re doing.”
Ireland at European Average, But Collaboration Strong
Ms. Davenport noted that Ireland’s scam rate is currently at the “European average,” but the trend is rising across the continent as criminals coordinate their cross-border activities and leverage instant payment systems.
She highlighted Ireland’s strong proactive stance, asserting that Ireland is “one of the few that actually have this cross-sector collaboration, if not the only.” Initiatives like the shared fraud database and the cross-sector Anti-Fraud Forum are helping Ireland lead in finding “proactive ways where we can stop the fraud from happening in the first place.”
Consumers were encouraged to use the scamchecker.ie tool, a FraudSmart initiative that instantly checks if a website is risky.
