The value of payment fraud in Cyprus increased by 16% to almost €3.7 million in the second half of 2025, despite a 5% decline in the number of incidents, according to a statistical report published by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Tuesday.
Around 14,000 fraud incidents were recorded during the period. The CBC said that, despite the increase in losses, payment fraud remained at relatively low levels, with rates for most payment methods below the euro area average.
Credit transfers account for most losses
Cyprus recorded the highest average value of a fraudulent credit transfer among euro area countries.
Each fraudulent credit transfer was worth an average of €6,300 in Cyprus, compared with €1,800 across the euro area. The figure was also higher than the average value of all credit transfers in Cyprus, which stood at €4,500.
Credit transfers accounted for €2 million, or 56%, of the total value of fraud incidents in Cyprus. Card payments followed with €1.6 million, representing 43%.
However, card payments accounted for 93% of all fraud incidents, with around 13,000 cases.
The CBC said payment service users, including consumers and businesses, have historically borne around 95% of total fraud losses involving credit transfers. For card payments and electronic money, most losses are borne by other parties involved in the payment process.
Online card payments dominate fraud cases
Although card payments made physically at points of sale account for 70% of all card transactions in Cyprus, they represented only 4% of fraud incidents.
Online payments, which account for 30% of card transactions, represented 96% of fraud cases and 94% of the total value of card fraud.
The fraud rate for credit cards was also around 1.5 times higher than for debit cards, both in terms of the number and value of incidents.
Fraud through manipulated payments
The dominant form of fraud involving credit transfers was the manipulation of the payer by the fraudster.
In such cases, account holders are deceived into transferring money to an account controlled by the perpetrator.
This type of fraud accounted for 70% of credit transfer incidents, while the remaining 30% involved unauthorised payment transactions.
Instant credit transfers recorded higher fraud rates than conventional transfers. In Cyprus, the fraud rate by value for instant transfers was around twice that of conventional transfers.
The average fraudulent instant credit transfer was worth €3,400, more than double the average value of all instant transfers, which stood at €1,500.
New verification measures expected to help
The CBC said Verification of Payee (VoP), which became mandatory for payment service providers in the euro area from October 2025, is expected to help reduce fraud involving electronic credit transfers.
However, its impact is not yet reflected in the figures covered by the report.
Although most transactions in Cyprus are domestic, most fraud incidents involve cross-border transactions.
The CBC also highlighted the importance of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), which is associated with significantly lower fraud rates.
In Cyprus, the fraud rate for card payments without SCA was almost four times higher by number and nearly three times higher by value than transactions where SCA was applied.
Fraud losses also rise across euro area
Across the euro area, the total value of fraud increased by 8% to €1.9 billion in the second half of 2025.
The number of incidents remained broadly unchanged at around nine million.
The CBC concluded that, despite relatively low fraud levels in Cyprus, the concentration of incidents in online and cross-border transactions, as well as high-value credit transfers, makes it necessary to continue strengthening prevention measures and risk-management mechanisms.
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