Around 50pc of all fraudulent transactions occurred when the victim did not set up two-factor authentication for their payments.
Fraudulent transactions in Ireland are on a slow incline, but generally remain below the EU average – except for card payments.
This is according to the Central Bank of Ireland’s (CBI) Irish Payment Fraud Statistics for 2022 and 2023 published today (24 January), which reports that consumers in the country suffered €126m in fraudulent payments in 2023 – up by 26pc from €100m in 2022. While in total, the European Economic Area (EEA) suffered €4.3bn in fraudulent payments in 2022 and €2bn in the first half of 2023.
Ireland’s total rate of fraudulent transaction sits at one in 10,000, says the CBI.
About 0.036pc of all card payments – which make up a large share of preferred payment method in the country – turned out to be fraudulent in 2023, which is higher than the EU average of 0.031pc.
Moreover, according to the data, around 98pc of all card payment frauds, in the two years, occurred when fraudsters stole card, account or personal information for a payment, while in 2023, 42pc of credit transfer frauds occurred when fraudsters manipulated a payer through social engineering or impersonation – a marked increase from 2022 where 27pc credit transfer fraud victims faced the same.
On the other hand, more than 99pc of all fraudulent direct debits that occurred between 2022 and the first half of 2023 were through unauthorised payment transactions where a fraudster obtains customer information and sets up mandates without a payer’s authorisation.
Moreover, according to CBI’s data, around 50pc of all fraudulent electronic payments, valuing to €52m, were not authenticated with a two-factor authentication, a security method that verifies a customer’s identity while making payments, which led to a higher fraud rate when compared to those with Strong Customer Authentication set up.
In total, consumers in the country reported losses amounting to €40.8m and €59.6m in 2022 and 2023 through payment fraud.
“Hackers and cybercriminals are continuously improving their practices, constantly finding new ways of stealing material and outsmarting even the most advanced of security systems. The growing sophistication of fraudsters mean scams have become harder to spot, and therefore easier to fall for,” said Michael Kavanagh, the CEO of the Compliance Institute.
“People must take ownership of what they can do to protect their data. Simple steps like ensuring they have adequate security and antivirus software on their PCs and laptops are crucial. Regular password changes, while they might be a nuisance are always very important.
“When shopping online, look for a padlock symbol beside the website address and ensure the web address begins with ‘https’ as both indicate the site is secure. Avoid clicking on links from social media or pop-up ads; instead, type the website address directly into your browser. We all need to be mindful when sharing our details with online sites and do what we can protect ourselves from spammers, and worse still fraudsters.”
Last year, the Bank of Ireland claimed that investment fraud incidents grew by 77pc in 2023, while the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said that reports received by Gardaí from victims of fraudulent texts increased by more than 30pc.
While figures released by FraudSmart – an initiative led by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland – showed authorised push payment fraud rose by more than 25pc in the first half of 2023.
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