Fraud offences up by 73% in six months

Overall fraud offences have increased by 73% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, according to provisional crime statistics from An Garda Síochána.

The garda figures are subject to change, with official statistics published by the Central Statistics Office on a quarterly basis.

The statistics show significant increases across most forms of fraud, with the biggest rise recorded in forgery or false instruments, which rose by 200% between January to the end of June 2025 compared to the same time last year.

An Garda Síochána said “deception or other” rose by 178%, shopping or online auction fraud was up 166% and money laundering increased by 82%.

Reports of “bogus tradesmen” had a 57% increase during this time compared to previous statistics for this period, while fraud relating to accommodation rose by 22% and so-called “account takeover fraud” rose by 18%.

However, gardaí said other forms of fraud decreased, including a drop of 88% in reports of counterfeit notes and coins.

Instances of phishing, vishing and smishing reduced by 26% – such crimes are usually carried out online, via a phone call or text message.

Insurance fraud also dropped by 45%, the figures showed.

The second highest rise in crime was in reports of arson, which increased by 20% compared to the first six months of last year.

But the report added that other examples of criminal damage, excluding arson, dropped by 14%.

An Garda Síochána’s provisional report showed a 16% reduction on last year in reports of child sexual abuse material and related offences.

But it said that “nationally the number of sexual offences reported has increased” compared to the same time last year.

It said there was a 4% rise in reports of rape and a 7% increase in sexual assault that were not aggravated.

The provisional figures from gardaí also found an overall reduction of 2% in road traffic collisions up to 30 June this year compared to the same period last year.

It said there were “over 22,100 road traffic collisions reported to An Garda Síochána” during this time.

But gardaí said instances of people “driving while intoxicated” rose by 8%.

In the six months to 30 June 2025, the report said gardaí initiated “over 27,000 arrests”, with “over 67,000 criminal charges created”.

It also said officers made “over 6,500 referrals to the Juvenile Diversion programme in accordance with the Children’s Act 2001”.