Fraudulent payments in Ireland hit €179m, up 27% in one year

The value of fraudulent payments by Irish-resident providers rose 27% to €179m last year, with authorised push-payment fraud now making up nearly half of all fraud.

Ireland's payment fraud bill surges to €179 million as push-payment scams near 50% share

The value of fraudulent payments reported by Irish-resident service providers climbed 27% to €179 million in 2025, according to figures published by the Central Bank of Ireland and reported by Google News IE — Crime (en). The regulator's annual payment fraud statistics show the increase was driven largely by higher individual transaction values rather than a rise in the volume of fraud events.

Fraud affected approximately one in 10,000 payment transactions overall, the Central Bank noted, describing the jump in total value as "significant" despite only a marginal increase in the number of individual fraud cases recorded.

Authorised push-payment fraud closes in on half of all losses

Authorised push-payment (APP) fraud — where criminals gain a victim's trust in order to deceive them into approving a payment — accounted for 45% of total fraud by value, equating to almost €75 million last year. That share has risen sharply from 35.2% in 2024, underlining the speed at which the tactic is gaining ground.

The fraud type is especially concentrated in credit transfers, where it now represents more than two-thirds of all credit-transfer fraud losses, up from 45.6% the previous year.

Cheques carry the highest average loss per case

Despite a relatively low overall fraud rate, cheques recorded the highest average fraud value of any payment method at €9,741 per case. Credit transfers followed with an average loss of €2,412, while payments processed through e-money institutions ranked third. That category saw a notable spike in average fraud value, rising from €692 in 2024 to €1,427 in 2025.

Cross-border payments dominate the total

Payments sent to accounts located outside Ireland accounted for almost 70% of the total fraudulent-payment value — close to €125 million of the overall €179 million figure. The dominance of cross-border transactions in the fraud landscape points to the international networks behind many of the schemes targeting Irish consumers.

Central Bank calls for stronger controls across the financial system

Colm Kincaid, the Central Bank's deputy governor for consumer and investor protection, said financial fraud and scams remained a key area of concern for the regulator and for law-enforcement agencies worldwide.

"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," Kincaid said.

"And, where fraud does occur, firms need to provide appropriate and timely support to affected consumers," he added.

Kincaid said the Central Bank was already engaged with regulated firms on improving customer-service responses in fraud cases. He also urged anyone who falls victim to fraud to contact their financial-service provider immediately, citing Central Bank research from earlier this year which found that 38% of fraud victims never report the incident to anyone.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)