Online fraudsters netted €53 million from scams last year

Online fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to con people out of their money, with the total amount lost growing by 20% last year to €53 million.

The national fraud hotline Fraudehelpdesk said it had received 63,469 reports of fraudulent activity last year, up by 10% since 2023, including 9,146 cases in which the victim had lost money.

The agency warned that criminals were looking up people’s public data before contacting them so they could appear more plausible. In recent years banks have advised customers that genuine emails and letters will always address them by name.

Hackers also use spoofing techniques to clone emails and telephone numbers so that customers believe they are being contacted by their bank. Typically they are warned about a security breach and asked to disclose PIN numbers or transfer a sum of money to a “safe” account, which belongs to the criminals.

In some cases criminals even arrange with their victims to call at their house and collect cash or valuables after persuading them that they are being targeted by online thieves.

Fake helplines

Fraudehelpdesk warned that the rise in cybercrime is making efforts to combat it less effective, as people find it harder to distinguish genuine emails from false ones. The police, tax office and Fraudehelpdesk itself are all used as covers for online scams.

Last year it warned people about a fake helpline using the web address hulpbijfraude.eu, which claimed to work with Fraudehelpdesk and displayed the agency’s contact details.

It warns online users never to share PIN codes or login details, or pay money into so-called “safe” accounts after receiving an unexpected phone call. If in doubt they should hang up and call the bank back on a publicly listed number.