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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.
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.
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Top of the scam list – buying bike sheds, hospitals for kids, Arts Council apps, Lay-D-Boys for TDs….
@Kylie More-Rode – Ballyer Drag Queen: lol. Lay-d-boys. Hahaha
@Kylie More-Rode – Ballyer Drag Queen: You’re on the money there!
Gov and civil service have been at it years why can’t everyone else have a go?
@bruce banner: it’s OK for Government to steal our money because the government says so.
Reporting of many crimes has dropped massively due to being no point in reporting it, eg shoplifting, vandalism, antisocial behaviour
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson:
Unfortunately it goes on in every town and village.
The country has lost its charm.
Since the floodgates opened,we no longer know who is living in our midst .
Honesty,and decency is disappearing.
With everything computerised,and online,people are being scammed right,left,and centre.
The good old days are looking better every day.
or simply more people complain and fill the forms.
and ignored by our Garda at the end of the day. can’t blame them really…
@Dominic Leleu: What exactly can be done? Police forces the world over can’t solve the scamming issue. People need to take responsibility use a credit card that’s not tied to your bank for online purchases, you get insurance and say your limit is 5000k and scammers access it watch how quick the credit card company jumps. Banks are useless too .
@Dominic Leleu: the money is traced, money goes abroad, once it leaves Ireland, not much can be done after that. Send a report to the local police about a possible money mule account in their country and hope they do something about it
@Joe Reville: Waste of time, there are so many channels available, the money would bounce of so many places and they are mostly “dark” anyway. I’m afraid it’s people who are going to ensure they are safe.
@Joe Reville: Money goes to countries where politicians and law enforcement get a cut of the scam, they’re not going to kill the golden goose!
@Joe Reville: then sanction these countries financially until they do something about that
Good work, and let’s hope it continues. People need to be aware of the pitfalls of buying online the recent hacks on M&S and others in the UK has led to some serious issues for people who no fault of their own have personal data being sold .
Just after been scammed in a shop paid nearly three euros for a small bottle of coke
Biggest scam? USC.
I know it not exactly this but the gist of it When you return an item even though they could they won’t refund you automatically till they do some checks so why not something similar for purchases.
People being scammed making purchases too
have your say