Almost €180 million was stolen in financial frauds last year, according to new figures from the Central Bank compiled on the basis of reports from payment service providers in Ireland.
Its annual payment fraud statistics point to an increase of 27.2 per cent in the value of such criminal activity with over €179 million stolen last year compared with €141 million in 2024.
Fraud affects around one in every 10,000 payments made and while the number of impacted transactions climbed marginally, it was the value of the fraud that jumped sharply, according to the data.
The report highlights how the typical value of fraudulent payments depends on the type of payment method with cheques showing the highest average fraud value of €9,741 despite having a comparatively low usage.
Credit transfers recorded the second-highest average fraud value at €2,412 last year. Payments made using e-money institutions ranked third, with a notable spike from €692 in 2024 to €1,427 in 2025.
Authorised push payment fraud which sees fraudsters gain their victims’ trust by using social engineering to deceive them into authorising payments – now accounts for 45 per cent of total fraud by value.
The value of such fraud was put at just under €75 million and the Central Bank said this type of fraud was particularly prevalent in credit transfers, representing 67.2 per cent of all credit transfer fraud, up from 45.6 per cent in 2024.
Cross-border payments dominate payment fraud and accounted for 69.8 per cent of the total fraudulent payment value, amounting to €124.89 million. The Central Bank said this was an increase of 6.3 percentage points from 2024.
“Financial frauds and scams continue to be a key area of concern for the Central Bank of Ireland, as it is for regulators and law enforcement agencies all over the world,” said deputy governor for consumer and investor protection, Colm Kincaid.
“As we see criminals become ever more sophisticated in their approach, all actors in the system from financial firms to technology companies need to continue to improve their systems and controls to reduce the likelihood of these frauds occurring,” he added.
Kincaid stressed that where fraud does occur, “firms need to provide appropriate and timely support to affected consumers. The Central Bank has work under way with the firms we regulate to improve customer service for fraud cases.”
He pointed out that consumers can make it harder for the criminals by being cautious online.
“I also encourage anyone who falls victim to fraud to contact their financial service provider immediately. We know from our research published earlier this year that 38 per cent of fraud victims never report their experience to their financial service provider or any authority.”
He stressed that fraud victims who report their experience are more likely to recover their money.
“By taking these steps and reporting fraud promptly, you protect yourself and help your financial service provider identify fraud patterns to protect other consumers.”