Value of fraudulent payments up 27% last year
The value of fraudulent payments reported by Irish-resident service providers rose by 27% to €179 million last year, according to the Central Bank.
The regulator's annual figures on payment fraud also show that authorised push-payment fraud – where fraudsters gain trust to deceive consumers into authorising payments – now accounts for almost half of payment fraud.
The statistics show that fraud affects around one in 10,000 payment transactions.
Credit transfers
The Central Bank noted that the "significant" increase in fraudulent payments was recorded despite only a marginal rise in the number of fraud transactions.
Authorised push-payment fraud accounted for 45% of total fraud by value – almost €75 million last year – up from its share of 35.2% in 2024.
The Central Bank says that this type of fraud is particularly prevalent in credit transfers, representing more than two-thirds of all credit-transfer fraud – up from 45.6% in 2024.
Cheques top value list
The report notes that, despite a lower overall fraud rate, cheques recorded the highest average fraud value at €9,741 last year.
Credit transfers were next, with an average fraud value of €2,412, while payments made using e-money institutions ranked third, with “a notable spike” from €692 in 2024 to €1,427 in 2025.
Cross-border payments – those sent to accounts located outside Ireland – dominate payment fraud and accounted for almost 70% of the total fraudulent-payment value, amounting to almost €125 million, last year.
Customer-service improvements
The Central Bank's deputy governor for consumer and investor protection Colm Kincaid said that financial frauds and scams continued to be a key area of concern for the Central Bank, as they were for regulators and law-enforcement agencies all over the world.
"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.
"And, where fraud does occur, firms need to provide appropriate and timely support to affected consumers," he stated.
Kincaid added that work was underway with regulated firms to improve customer service for fraud cases.
He also encouraged anyone falling victim to fraud to contact their financial-service provider immediately, citing Central Bank research earlier this year showing that 38% of fraud victims never report their experience.