Scam victims conned out of €5,300 on average as fraud increases

Over half of the scams involved individuals pretending to be a Government department or agency, including the Revenue Commissioners and An Garda Síochána.

Scam victims are being conned out of an average of €5,300 as new figures show an increase of over 50% in the amount of money lost to fraudsters.

A total of €15.6m has been lost by the victims of scams — including impersonation, investment, and romance scams — according to the latest figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).