Payment fraud incidents surged in Cyprus during the second half of 2024, according to a Cyprus Central Bank Statistical Report.
Cases were up by 34% in volume and 26% in value, with total losses reaching €3 million. Despite the increase, Cyprus still reports lower fraud rates than the Eurozone average.
Card payments took the biggest hit, accounting for 94% of cases, nearly 13,000 incidents. However, credit transfers caused the largest financial damage, with losses of €1.8 million compared to €1.2 million for cards. Almost all card fraud (99%) involved unauthorised transactions, mostly online. The 95% of card-related fraud occurred on the internet, while in-store transactions saw minimal abuse.
Credit transfers, though fewer in number, proved more costly, largely due to manipulation of the payer – the so-called Authorized Push Payment fraud – which made up 75% of such cases.
Card transactions outside Cyprus were 25 times more likely to be fraudulent than domestic ones, while cross-border credit transfers were ten times riskier than local transactions.
The report highlights the critical role of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). Payments with SCA had fraud rates five times lower than those without it. Meanwhile, checks and direct debits had negligible cases and amounts involved.
Despite the rise, fraud still represents an extremely small percentage of overall transactions, less than 0.002% for cards and under 0.01% for credit transfers.
(Source: CNA)
