Central Bank of Estonia review finds 2024 payment fraud incidents up 14% and losses reaching EUR 13.5 million

The Central Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) published a review of payment fraud showing that total losses in 2024 rose to EUR 13.5 million, up 4% from 2023, as the number of fraud incidents increased around 14% to 30,600. Card fraud was more than four times as common as credit transfer fraud, but credit transfer scams generated much higher average losses per victim, and victims bore the loss in the vast majority of cases. Average losses were EUR 1,500 for an individual victim of credit transfer fraud versus EUR 125 per card fraud incident. Card fraud affected 18 victims per thousand residents in 2024, up from 15 per thousand in 2023, while credit transfer fraud held steady at four people per thousand and was mostly linked to payments initiated in online banks or mobile apps. The review highlights manipulation as the main driver of scams, with 89% of credit transfer frauds and 56% of card frauds being authenticated; clients bore losses in 98% of credit transfer fraud cases and 75% of card fraud cases. Cash withdrawal-related scams also jumped, with losses rising from EUR 50,000 in 2023 to around EUR 900,000 in 2024, often involving physical card and PIN theft or “cash courier” schemes. On countermeasures, the review notes that mobile operators block more than a million scam calls each week and that banks and police continue efforts to disrupt scams. It also points to the Estonian Payment Forum’s fraud-combating round table launched in 2025, chaired by the Central Bank of Estonia, which is tasked with producing and executing an action plan, proposing legislative changes, and sharing information, with the Ministry of Finance responsible for the action plan.