Gardai warn of "sharp rise" in online card fraud

With Irish consumers spending an average of €850,000 every hour in online sales, Gardai have teamed up with retailers in a bid to combat the growing problem of 'Card Not Present' (CNP) fraud.

To illustrate the scale of the problem facing both Irish consumers and retailers, Gardai from the National Economic Crime Bureau revealed that card fraud amounted to €29.6 million in Ireland during 2015, with the vast majority (70%) occurring in a card not present environment, i.e. online transactions, telephone purchases etc.

In the first half of last year alone there was €20.8 million card fraud in Ireland, 78% of which was due to compromises in a card not present environment.

The massive growth in online sales among Irish consumers has prompted the latest campaign by the

Gardaí from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, who say they have noticed “a sharp rise” in CNP fraud over the last 18 months.

CNP fraud occurs when a payment card is not physically presented during a phone or online transaction and, while retailers are being targeted by this practice, consumers are also very vulnerable because most CNP fraud involves the use of payment card details that have been compromised and obtained through skimming, hacking, email phishing, telephone solicitations or other unlawful methods. The compromised payment card details are then used to facilitate fraudulent transactions.

At the launch of the campaign to combat CNP fraud, Detective Garda Jim O' Meara from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau gave details of how a national sports retailer was targeted 172 times over a two week period using compromised payment cards from the US. If all 172 attempts were successful, the retailer would have lost out on approximately €16,000 in revenue. A smaller retailer in the West of Ireland was also targeted in recent months.

The advice to Irish consumers to help prevent their cards from being compromised is:

Retail Excellence spokesperson Lorraine Higgins said 'We are delighted to get behind this initiative to help combat the very new crime of online fraud. Our retailers want to ensure consumers can shop online safe in the knowledge their personal and financial details are safe which is exactly why we, as Ireland largest retail representative body, are supporting this initiative.

'We would advise that retailers be vigilant and if you suspect something is not as it seems then do not hesitate to contact An Garda Siochana.”