The decrease in transaction fraud incidents in the second half of 2023, compared to the first half, was not enough to limit the losses of consumer depositors, who lost EUR 24 million to fraudsters. The largest loss comes from online purchases, especially from foreign companies, followed by losses from point-of-sale payments and ATM transactions, using the so-called “stolen card” method.
These data are derived from data published by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank for the first half of 2023, together with data from the Bank of Greece for the whole of 2023. From the aggregated and comparative data, it follows that: Transactions resulting from fraud doubled in the first half, accounting for 0.04% of the total. In the whole year, this percentage decreased to 0.02%.
Losses due to commercial fraud
However, total fraud losses in transactions increased significantly compared to total payments and money transfers in 2023. In particular, 2023 saw a significant increase in the number of fraudulent transactions by 43% compared to 2022. This equates to a fraud value of EUR 1 per transaction value of EUR 4.3 thousand, but this is expected to increase by 34% compared to 2022.
In 2023, cardholders paid 59% of the damages and recipients (such as merchants) 34%. Payment service providers issuing cards were charged 7% (from 9%), despite the provision on compensating cardholders in cases of fraud, with banks’ responsibility to protect consumers emphasized. In the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, according to the ECB report, the picture was worse, with fraud rates reaching 0.04% of transactions.
Of the €24 million lost, €17.5 million relate to card purchases without physical presence, i.e. through online purchases and mainly from foreign companies. The corresponding amount for 2022 was €13 million. Through points of sale and ATMs, €6.2 million were lost in 2023, compared to €3.2 million in 2022. The amounts in this category are relatively lower, but the fraud has almost doubled. And all this within a group of card transactions worth €103 billion.
In money transfer most fraud operations
Regarding the first half of 2023 analyzed by the EBA and the European Central Bank, Greece has one of the highest fraud rates. Most of the fraud occurred in credit transfers, i.e. sending money from one account to another. The value of money lost in such transactions in the first six months of 2023 amounted to EUR 19.87 million, equivalent to 0.004% of their total value.
This item is not included in the total for the whole of 2023 because it is not limited to card transactions only. It may seem small, but it is the second largest in Europe, after Malta (0.006%) and equal to Latvia. This basically means that 4 out of every 100,000 euros transacted via credit transfer are lost to fraud.
The second-highest damage comes from card transactions. Greece is roughly in the middle of the relative ranking, while Iceland is the champion, losing 0.087% of its card transaction value to fraud.
As for cash withdrawals, data from the European Central Bank and the EBA show that fraudulent transactions amounted to €1.9 million in the first half of 2023 alone, representing 0.013% of the total value of such transactions. This is the fourth highest percentage in Europe, while in this particular category the highest fraud rates were observed in Denmark (0.053%) and the Netherlands (0.047%).
On the fraudulent “platform”
Greece remains on the “platform” of fraud, with the third highest rate in Europe in electronic financial transactions, which in our country’s case relates almost exclusively to prepaid cards. In the first half of 2023, Greece lost just over 178 thousand euros, with fraudulent transactions accounting for 0.035% of the total.
In any case, the percentage of fraudulent transactions in direct debits in our country is zero, perhaps because it is very limited. But in general, the results of the investigations conducted by the European Central Bank and the Central Bank should raise concerns about the extent of fraud in financial transactions and lead to vigilance on the part of the consumer public and card-issuing banks.
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