Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 October 2025
34. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on the Central Bank of Ireland’s latest data indicating that fraudsters stole approximately €160 million from Irish consumers and businesses in 2024 through electronic and online payments. [57603/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Central Bank of Ireland released updated payment fraud statistics for 2024 on the 16th of October. As the deputy correctly points out, during 2024, €160 million in fraudulent payments were recorded by Irish resident PSPs representing a 24.5 per cent increase from €129 million in 2023.
The total volume of fraudulent payments also experienced a significant rise, increasing by 40.7 per cent from 579,000 in 2023 to 815,000 in 2024. The growth is predominantly driven by fraudulent e-money transactions and money remittances by both value and volume of payments.
Online payments accounted for 77.4 per cent of the total fraudulent value in 2024 amounting to €124 million. This represents a 22.9 per cent increase from €100.9 million in 2023. For the most commonly used payment methods like credit transfer and card payments over 86 per cent of the fraudulent payments by value were initiated online in 2024.
The total value of fraudulent electronic payments increased by 22 per cent in 2024 to €127 million, up from €103 million in 2023. The volume of fraudulent electronic payments increased by 15 per cent from 441,000 in 2023 to 509,000 in 2024.
Work is ongoing at the EU level on the Payment Services Regulation which when completed will include measures which aim to tackle the increasing prevalence of impersonation fraud. Payment service providers will be held liable for in cases where the payment service provider was impersonated by a fraudster manipulating a victim into authorising a fraudulent payment. Additionally, there will be a number of measures focused on fraud prevention, including strengthened transaction monitoring and fraud information sharing between key sectors.
At the domestic level, several steps are underway in line with recommendations made by the National Payments Strategy. The BPFI has established a cross sectoral anti-fraud forum with representatives from online platforms, financial services providers, telecommunications services providers and their respective regulators (the Central Bank, ComReg and Coimisiún na Meán) participating. This anti-fraud forum aims to foster cross-sectoral cooperation in fraud prevention through information sharing, coordinated action, and alignment with legislative requirements.
The national payments strategy actioned the Department of Justice, Home Affairs & Migration to work on legislation for a shared fraud database. I am informed by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs & Migration that work on this legislative project is underway.
