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Irish shoppers lost €12 million to credit and debit card fraudsters in the first half of 2020
Online card fraud rose by 21% compared with the same period in 2019, the BPFI said. By Ian Curran Thursday 1 Apr 2021, 6:30 AM Apr 1st 2021, 6:30 AM 10,597 Views 6 Comments
Image: Shutterstock/Suradech Prapairat
Image: Shutterstock/Suradech Prapairat
IRISH CREDIT AND debit card users were scammed to the tune of €12 million in the first six months of 2020, according to new figures published by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI).
The BPFI, the Irish banking sector’s main lobby group, recorded more than 143,000 fraudulent debit and credit card transactions in the first half of 2020.
Shoppers are being warned to take extra precautions in the run up to the Easter weekend as new figures showed online payment fraud is on the rise.
According to data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BFPI), fraudulent payments on cards totalled more than â¬12 million in the first half of 2020, due to more than 143,000 fake transactions.
In-store card fraud halved during the year, reflecting a change in how consumers shopped during the pandemic, online fraud was up 21 per cent over the same period.
The figures cover the first six months of 2020, with Covid-19 restrictions kicking in last March. Recent data from the Central Statistics Office showed online retail sales were up 13 per cent in March, the highest proportion of retail sales transacted online since May 2020, and with no clear date for the end of restrcitions on non-essential retail, the online shopping trend is likely to continue.