Banks report that the number of fraud transactions with payment cards increased in Q4, according to a new report by the National Bank of Poland. There are also more scams using money transfers. However, the central bank reassures that the scale of frauds is still small. But it is not the “ony” area with cyber security issues.
Every quarter, the National Bank of Poland publishes a report on fraudulent transactions using non-cash payment instruments. The latest available data is for the fourth quarter of 2021.
Money transfer fraud in Poland up by 3.3%
According to information from banks, the number of fraudulent card transactions increased by 3.3% in the period in question and to the level of 61.800. At the same time, in terms of value, there was a decrease by 2.8%. to the level of 21.3 million PLN. The dominant part of payment card fraud were offences resulting from non-cash transactions, which amounted to 97% in terms of number, and 92.9% in terms of value.
Slightly different data comes from the acquirers. According to the information provided by these entities, in the fourth quarter of 2021 there were over 8.400 fraudulent operations performed with payment cards in the amount of nearly PLN 4.8 million, which in relation to the previous quarter means a decrease in the number by 23.9%. and values by 21.3 percent.
The difference in the presented data between agents and banks is due to the fact that data from acquirers do not include transactions made at ATMs with stolen or counterfeit cards and fraudulent transactions made outside the country with cards issued in Poland. On the other hand, data from banks do not include fraudulent transactions in Poland with cards issued in other countries.
The data provided by banks show that in the fourth quarter of 2021, frauds classified as Other (69.5%) dominated. As part of it, institutions mainly provide information on transactions made with the use of card data without its physical presence. Fraud with counterfeit cards accounted for 19.2 percent. total fraud, and those cards lost / stolen accounted for 11.2 percent. However, no frauds were reported in the category of cards not received.
The report also shows that the number and value of fraudulent transfers has increased significantly. There were over 12 thousand such incidents. for the amount of PLN 41 million.
For comparison, a year earlier there were only 3.800 of these events. In turn, compared to the previous quarter, there was an increase by 56.1%. fraudulent transactions using credit transfers and an increase of 28.3% the value of fraudulent transactions. The average value of a fraudulent transfer order was PLN 3,405 and it decreased by 17.8%. compared to the previous quarter.
Most cases in online banking
According to the NBP, most of the fraudulent transfer orders were made in online banking. In the third and fourth quarter of 2021, these shares accounted for 53.6%, respectively.
78.3 percent Fraudulent transactions performed in this way are most often the result of infecting a computer by malware, extorting data from the client by means of manipulation, i.e. various phishing methods, or taking control of the client’s computer by criminals. This results in the transfer of funds from the client’s account to the account from which the criminals withdraw funds.
Although there are more and more frauds – both card and transfer – the central bank is reassuring. According to analysts, the scale of those with the use of payment cards is still small compared to the total trading with payment cards.
According to the banks, it is only 0.003 percent. numbers and 0.008 percent. the value of all transactions. The same is true for bank transfer fraud. “The share of these transactions, both in terms of numbers and value, has remained at a very low level for many years,” write NBP experts.
Source: Bankier
