FRAUD OFFENCE HAVE soared in early 2025, with shopping scams alone jumping by 200 per cent, new Garda figures have revealed.

According to quarterly figures published by gardaí today, there were significant decreases in robbery, burglary, violent disorder and theft offences in the first three months of this year.

However, incidents linked to organised crime and serious fraud have risen compared to the same period last year, a trend that gardaí attribute to improved reporting and higher detection rates.

Reported fraud or economic crime overall increased by 61 per cent when compared to the first three months of 2024, according to provisional Garda crime statistics.

Shopping and online auction fraud – where fake websites or listings are used to steal payment card details – recorded the sharpest rise of any crime in the first three months of 2025, jumping by 200% compared to the same period last year.

Forgery also rose by over 200 per cent, while deception was up 159 per cent, account takeover fraud increased by 128 per cent, and bogus tradesman scams showed a growing trend with a 107 per cent rise.

There were some declines in fraud-related crimes, as reports of counterfeit cash use declined by 88 per cent, and incidents of ‘phishing’ (conning people via email or messages to steal information) dropped by 52 per cent.

Despite the upward trend in fraud, traditional property crime has dropped significantly, with residential burglaries down 17 per cent, reaching their lowest level since 2021.

Gardaí credit Operation Thor, a targeted crackdown on burglary gangs, with helping cut winter-time break-ins by 75 per cent over the past decade.

Elsewhere, organised retail crime remains a growing concern. While theft from shops dropped slightly overall, gardaí noted an ongoing increase in reported incidents in Dublin.

In the past year, retail theft arrests rose by 8 per cent, while charges and summonses surged by over 30 per cent, highlighting intensified efforts to tackle coordinated shoplifting and refund fraud.

Road safety

There were significant improvements in road afety offence rates, with fatal and serious road traffic collisions falling by 40 per cent compared to the first three months of last year.

Fatal collisions were down 22 per cent, while incidents resulting in serious injury dropped by 42 per cent.

Despite an increase in non-serious injuries (21 per cent), the overall number of road collisions fell by 7 per cent.

Operational enforcement also intensified, with Gardaí reporting that they issued nearly 71,000 Fixed Charge Notices by the end of March – including over 31,800 speeding fines and thousands more for offences such as using a mobile phone while driving, failing to wear a seatbelt, and misusing bus lanes.

There was also a 3 per cent rise in arrests for drink or drug driving, with an average of 23 drivers detained daily.