Lisbon, May 8, 2025 (Lusa) - According to data from the Bank of Portugal, losses due to card and transfer fraud totalled €8.9 million in the first half of 2024, up from €5 million in the first half of 2023.
In its 2024 Payment Systems Report, released on Thursday, the Bank of Portugal (BdP) said that fraud in electronic payments in Portugal remained very low, lower than in the European Economic Area, but it increased slightly.
In the first half of 2024 (the BdP does not release data for the whole year), there were 129 fraudulent transactions per million transactions (down from 156 fraudulent transactions per million in the same period last year) on cards (issuer's perspective).
The average value of fraud was €58 (€47 in the same period of 2023).
In normal transfers, there were 16 fraudulent transactions per million (up from six in the same period last year). The average value of fraud was €3,118, up from €3,086.
Direct debits had the lowest fraud rate (0.4 fraudulent transactions per million transactions), with an average value of €493 (down from €648 in the first half of 2023).
The Bank of Portugal said that the level of fraud in card transactions where strong customer authentication is used is much lower than in transactions without such authentication.
In credit transfers, the BdP says that fraud occurs mainly because offenders create "social engineering strategies", manipulating customers into initiating transactions in their favour or obtaining strong authentication credentials. These include sending emails or links that lead users to fraudulent websites or schemes such as "Hello Dad/Hello Mum".
In terms of losses, in the first half of 2024, the total amount rose to €8.9 million. The previous report indicated that in the first half of 2023, losses amounted to €5 million.
According to the BdP, losses associated with card fraud decreased in the first six months of 2024, while losses related to credit transfers increased.
The Bank of Portugal said that customers will bear the losses when transactions are initiated by them or result from the misuse of security credentials or personal data shared inappropriately. In "all other situations," the losses fall mainly on the payment companies.
In May 2024, the beneficiary confirmation feature came into force. This feature requires the user to verify the name of the person or entity before giving the final order to transfer money.
According to the Bdp, "this beneficiary confirmation will have made it possible to substantially reduce transfers-related fraud, particularly fraud known as “Hello Dad, Hello Mum”".
According to the banking regulator and supervisor, after this feature was made available, "there was a reduction in fraud in credit transfers and immediate transfers due to manipulation by the payer (-77% of fraudulent transactions in the first three months after implementation)".
In 2023, there were 83.3 million queries for single beneficiary confirmation.
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