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The BPFI say that roughly 80% of all scams in the UK originate online. Alamy Stock Photo

Fraudsters 'find it easier' to trick victims into sending money than stealing their identities

The BPFI said fraudsters find it is easier to manipulate victims by getting transferred money directly rather than stealing their identity.

THE BANKING AND Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) has called for a “whole of system response” to tackle authorised push payment fraud in Ireland in an attempt to stop online banking scams.

The BPFI, which represents the banking sector in Ireland, told the Oireachtas Finance committee today that fraudsters have “found that it is easier to manipulate customers” into transferring money directly to them, rather than attempting to steal their victim’s identity.

Through authorised push payment (APP) scams, fraudsters can use hacked emails and log-in details to various accounts to impersonate accounts that a potential victim has already built a relationship with, like a bank or a direct debit.

Niamh Davenport, Head of Financial Crime in the BPFI said: “In most cases the customer fully believes they are making a legitimate payment, even at times when it has been flagged to them by their banking provider that it is high risk.”

Last year, almost €2 million was stolen from people in Ireland through “romance fraud”, according to gardaí. These scams attempt to lure money, through cryptocurrency transfers, from people who believe they’ve met a potential partner online.

The BPFI say that romance fraud is just one among the many scams in practice in Ireland and that roughly 80% of all scams in the United Kingdom are known to originate through online advertising.

Setting up a national database

Davenport said that a shared fraud database scheme, similar to schemes across Europe and the UK, would support both the Irish financial sector and gardaí and added that the BPFI have worked to develop one.

BPFI has worked with members to develop an industry shared fraud database which is ready to stand up once legislative amendments currently with the Department of Justice are approved.”

Davenport added that the “key difference” the BPFI note between Ireland and other jurisdictions is the lack of such a scheme, adding that by working together “it becomes possible to gather and share intelligence, identify patterns, and proactively address emerging fraud trends”.

“Cross-sectorial collaboration”

Davenport said that an all-industry approach, with the help of the State, An Garda Síochána, as well as telecoms, financial and media companies, is needed to stop these scams from taking place by creating “cross-sectorial collaboration on intelligence sharing”.

Davenport added that this would be a “significant game changer in fraud prevention” in the country.

The BPFI said that it currently holds a bi-monthly meeting with a joint intelligence group where it trains banks and branch staff to correctly handle and identify customers who are being defrauded.

The group said further collaborative work is needed with internet providers and social media companies as they have a “significant role to place in blocking fraudulent websites, monitoring network traffic and taking down fake advertisements”.

Davenport said: “Collaboration creates a united front against fraud and by leveraging the expertise and resources from across all stakeholders it becomes possible to disrupt the fraud ecosystem and protect consumers from falling victim to scams.”

Making customers aware

The BPFI told the committee that their FraudSMART programme has attempted to raise awareness of potential scams to customer and business since 2017.

Davenport said that the programme “regularly raises awareness about the authorised push payment fraud scams”, among other scams, through a variety of channels and wishes to continue it’s work further.

Davenport added: “Ultimately, empowering consumers and businesses through education helps to close the gap that fraudsters exploit when manipulating customers and this is what our FraudSMART programme sets out to achieve.”

This year, the programme highlighted that “highly convincing” investment scams were increasing in the country and that the fraudsters were targeting citizens of retirement age.

The same programme revealed last year that fraudsters stole nearly €45 million through various scams in the second half of 2021 alone – a 37% increase on 2020.

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    Mute Ferg Breen
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:00 AM

    We Need To Talk About Dylan.

    76
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    Mute reg gordon
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:50 AM

    Can’t agree with this
    So the killer becomes even more notorious?
    These killings should be consigned to the past as they happen to prevent copy cat events

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    Mute tmwtbc
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:14 AM

    There have been countless books written about countless murders and massacres; by victims, investigating officers and even perpetrators themselves. This is no different.

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    Mute Cathal Golden
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:16 AM

    So I suppose all massacres and maybe even genocide should also be consigned to the past? How very irish of you!

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    Mute Ablitive
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:18 AM

    Copy cat false flags is the correct terminology.

    A search for the “victims” of the 1999 Columbine ‘massacre’ in official records yields some shocking results …there aren’t any

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ab_1399244702

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:57 PM

    Maybe Bob Geldof will write a song about it too.

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:37 AM

    As a parent with a son in college that is one of the things that I worry about but are we just a generation away from it happening here where we have parents being killed or seriously injured while we drop our children to school. You can buy a gun easier in the states than a car, We are going the same way here. What the solution is I don’t know, we can make it more difficult to but weapons/drugs/ etc but if you stand outside any school & ask the students where you can get these things I will bet my wages that within a few min you will have what you want or be given the name of someone who can get it for you.

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:08 AM

    I should say he is in college in the states but click red if you wish but it is going to happen here all we have to do is look at the amount of bullying in schools from playgroup/playgrounds/ parks/internet/ right up into the work place. We are to a nation that pretends this will never happen to me. It can happen, we are a generation away from this happening even if you dont agree with me. All you have to do is read papers, listen to the news its out there we need to wake up & smell the coffee. Click red all you like but it is just a generation away

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:59 PM

    ” You can buy a gun easier in the states than a car, We are going the same way here.”

    In what respect are we “going the same way here”?

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:18 PM

    You can buy a gun in walmark or on any street the same as here I bet you could go into a pub anywhere in Ireland get drugs, guns etc & if you think this is not true then ask any teenager they will know where to go or know someone who knows someone where to get it

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    Mute Justin O'Connell
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:59 AM

    Who is worse here, the mother for writing the book or the public that will buy it..??
    “Paper will never refuse ink”

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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:26 PM

    …& the journal will never refuse nutjobs.

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    Mute Juan Venegas
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:27 AM

    People always trying to Ka$hing at any cost

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    Mute Loop De Loop
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:44 AM

    Eh … She’s giving the profits away ????

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:57 PM

    A parenting manual no doubt.

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    Mute Rowan T Cregan
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    Sep 27th 2014, 9:06 AM

    The reference work on that day is the book, “Columbine” by Dave Cullen. He goes through the initial reports of that day and demonstrates that every word released by the local police chief was untrue.

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    Mute Andrew Dunne
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:11 AM

    Actually this book could not recent future shootings.

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    Mute Andrew Dunne
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:11 AM

    *prevent

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