Losses from Irish ATM fraud drops

A total of €20.4m was lost to fraud on Irish issued credit, debit and ATM cards in 2012, down from the €25.7m lost in 2011.

The Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) said this reverses a trend which saw a 24% year-on-year rise from 2009 to 2011, and now a decrease of 21% in the value of fraud losses in 2012 card not present fraud ( fraud, where cards are used fraudulently on the internet, by mail order or over the phone) remains the biggest issue for the industry at 79% of the total fraud. Counterfeit and skimming fraud is next at 14% where cards are skimmed in Ireland and used to withdraw cash at ATMs abroad in countries where chip and pin has not yet been implemented.

Some 4% of the card fraud related to unauthorised sales on stolen cards where criminals shoulder-surfed while consumers keyed in their PINs at ATMs or in shops, before stealing the card, wallet or handbag, according to IPSO.

A total of €24.4bn worth of sales took place on credit and debit cards in 2012. The card fraud losses reflect a 0.08% portion of those sales. This is down by 3 basis points from a 0.11% fraud to sales ratio in 2011 when the turnover was €23.5bn.