They mainly concern online shopping transactions with foreign merchants with cards issued in Greece
There has been a sharp increase in electronic frauds by clever people who use various tricks to trap unsuspecting citizens and put their hands on their bank accounts.
The figures of the Bank of Greece, as reflected in the Financial Stability Report, show that in the first half of 2023 the number of fraud incidents recorded in card transactions reached 202,000 when in the second half of 2022 they had formed 151,203.
The value of fraud incidents reached 12.5 million from 9.99 million euros in the second half of 2022. In terms of fraud incidents, the fraud intensity index increased in the first half of 2023 by 31% and reached the level of 0.02%, corresponding to one fraud transaction per 5.2 thousand transactions.
In terms of value of fraud incidents, the index increased by 29% and reached 0.03%, corresponding to 1 euro of fraud value per 4 thousand euro of transaction value.
The highest rate of fraud concerns remote transactions. In particular, in the first half of 2023, the number and value of fraud incidents recorded amounted to:
- 2,705 in ATM transactions worth 900,000 euros
- 26,000 on POS payments worth €2.5 million
- 174,000 in CNP transactions worth €9 million.
The cases of online fraud mostly concern purchase transactions from foreign merchants with cards issued in Greece, as was the case in the previous six months as welldue to the more extensive use of the international technical standard for secure transactions 3D Secure by payment service providers in Greece compared to payment service providers abroad.
Who paid damages of 11.4 million euros
The financial losses arising from fraudulent transactions and which are distributed among the contracting parties of the transaction according to their culpability amounted to 11.4 million euros in the first half of 2023, increased by 25% compared to the second half of 2022 and by 105% compared to the first half of 2022.
The majority of the loss is borne by the cardholder-users, who in the first half of 2023 shouldered 63% of the total loss. Payment service providers that accept card transactions shouldered 31% of the total loss, while payment card issuers incurred 6%.
