Four questions about DNB’s new payment fraud figures

1. What is a fraudulent transaction?

A fraudulent transaction may be a payment that the victim did not authorise themselves, but which was executed nonetheless. In other words: theft or attempted theft. An unauthorised transaction may be executed if, for example, a fraudster has obtained someone’s PIN or other crucial personal data, whether legally or illegally.  Money is then withdrawn from the victim’s account, or cash is withdrawn from an ATM.

Another possibility is that a fraudster may manipulate a victim. For example, the fraudster may convince the victim that they are speaking on behalf of their bank, a healthcare organisation or a loved one. Once they have gained the victim’s trust, the fraudster tries to persuade the victim to transfer money. The fraudster then takes the money and runs, and the victim has been robbed. This also falls under the category of ‘fraudulent transactions’.

2. How do banks and payment institutions deal with fraudulent transactions?

Financial institutions have a wide range of tools at their disposal to detect fraudulent transactions. This includes software that can detect suspicious patterns or behaviour, and staff who actively look out for suspicious patterns or behaviour. They cannot always prevent victims from being robbed using these methods, but they can take steps to make things more difficult for perpetrators of fraud.

These institutions must also report any fraudulent transactions they detect to their supervisory authority. In the Netherlands, this is De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). DNB then combines the figures in such a way that the reported transactions cannot be traced back to individual institutions.

3. Why is DNB now publishing these figures?

DNB wants consumers, politicians and anti-fraud investigators to have access to the figures. We hope to gain a clearer picture of the problem by publishing figures every six months on the number of fraudulent transactions reported to us by Dutch institutions. This could be a big help when working on solutions.

There is a reason why DNB did not publish these figures at an earlier stage. Since 2022, institutions have been required by European law to disclose this information every six months. In order to identify trends, the statisticians at DNB need a certain amount of data. They now have enough data to compile reliable figures.

Anti-fraud investigators need to be able to monitor developments over longer periods so they can see where they should focus their attention. Consumers can benefit by becoming aware of the various types of fraud they may encounter.

4. Which figures are included, and which are not?

The institutions report three types of transactions to DNB.

• Cash withdrawals from ATMs

• Card payments, both in-shop and online, using a credit card or debit card

• Bank transfers, such as payments made via a payment app or online banking.

This means that DNB does not publish figures on certain types of fraudulent transactions. These are very specific types of transactions that the average consumer is unlikely to be unaware of. One type of fraudulent transaction that occasionally does make the news involves ‘e-money’ – gift vouchers, for instance, or money that can only be spent on certain online platforms. DNB currently does not publish figures on such transactions, but we intend to do so in future.