Card Fraud Accounts for 94% of Payment Scams in Cyprus, Central Bank Says

Payment fraud in Cyprus is on the rise, but the latest data suggest the country still records lower levels of fraud than the euro area average. The Central Bank of Cyprus released its first statistical report on payment fraud covering the second half of 2024, highlighting how criminals exploit different types of non-cash transactions.

Card Fraud Dominates by Volume

According to the report, card fraud made up 94% of all fraudulent transactions by volume. However, when measured by value, the largest losses came from credit transfers, which accounted for 60% of fraudulent activity. Card payments followed with 39% of the total fraud value.

The findings highlight a clear difference in fraud patterns: while cards are most frequently misused, high-value fraud tends to involve tricking account holders into transferring money directly to fraudsters.

The Central Bank’s analysis shows that 75% of fraudulent credit transfers involved scams where victims were manipulated into making payments. In contrast, 99% of card fraud cases stemmed from criminals using stolen or unauthorized customer information.

The report also found that fraud linked to card use was almost entirely concentrated in online transactions, despite most legitimate card payments still taking place at physical points of sale.

Cross-Border Transactions Carry Higher Risk

Fraudulent activity was far more common in cross-border transactions compared with domestic payments. For card transactions, the risk of fraud occurring outside Cyprus was about 25 times higher. This stark difference underscores the challenges regulators and payment providers face in securing international transactions.

Official figures show that 94% of all fraudulent payment transactions were card-related, amounting to around 13,000 cases over the six-month period.

By comparison, all other payment services combined recorded just about 1,000 fraudulent transactions, underscoring the concentration of crime in card payments.

Credit transfers accounted for the largest share, €1.8 million, or 60% of total losses, while card fraud followed closely at €1.2 million, or 39%. Fraud across other payment services was negligible, amounting to less than €50,000.

The euro area showed a similar breakdown in value terms, though with different proportions. Fraudulent credit transfers accounted for 58% of total losses, while card fraud contributed 30%.

More from Cyprus: Cyprus Assets Under Management Rise 6% to €10.7B, With Nearly Three-Quarters in Private Equity

The Central Bank of Cyprus emphasized that monitoring and publishing payment fraud data plays a key role in improving transparency and guiding further regulatory action. The new statistical releases will serve as a benchmark for assessing trends in future reporting periods.

Meanwhile, a recent report shows that although the number of fund management entities in Cyprus declined slightly in early 2025, overall assets under management expanded significantly.

AUM Rises Despite Fewer Fund Managers

According to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the collective investments sector recorded €10.7 billion in total assets under management in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a 6.64% increase from the previous quarter.

This growth came even as the number of supervised Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments slipped by 1.8% year-on-year, leaving the total at 322.