The number of fraudulent transactions involving bank transfers, card payments and cash withdrawals in the Dutch payments system rose by 30% in 2025 to approximately 658,000. The monetary value of these fraudulent transactions also rose by 22% to €198 million. However, this is still a small share of the total amount that is processed annually in the payment system, as is evident from figures published by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) for the first time today.
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The rise in payment fraud, which we highlighted earlier this year in our Payments Strategy 2026–2028, has various causes and varies by transaction type. For example, fraudsters are increasingly using deception in bank transfers involving rapid transactions that are difficult to reverse. Perpetrators of fraud are also increasingly targeting online card payments to obtain bank or credit card details, or other personal identifiers (phishing). In addition, there has been a recent rise in fraud involving cash withdrawals with lost or stolen debit cards.
At De Nederlandsche Bank, we independently compile statistics on the Dutch financial sector and economy. This article is based on these statistics. More information on our statistics and all dashboards can be found on our Statistics homepage.
In total, 7 out of every 100,000 transactions were fraudulent in 2025. In other words, of the 27 million transactions per day, around 1,800 were fraudulent. In euro terms this amounts to an average of around €540,000 in fraud per day, compared to a total of some € 13 billion in daily payments.
The increase in the number of fraud cases was greatest for European bank transfers, rising by 55% to 129,000.
Also, this is where most of the fraud occurred in euro terms. In 2025, the monetary value of this fraud stood at around €148 million, compared with around €121 million in 2024.
In this type of fraud, consumers and businesses are often tricked into transferring money themselves, for instance through fraudulent payment instructions given by a fraudster posing as a family member. It may also involve investment fraud or bank helpdesk fraud, in which fraudsters pose as bank staff.
The greatest increase can be seen in instant payments (where the money is credited to the recipient’s account within a few seconds) and international payments. Fraudsters may prefer the latter two types of payments because, in both cases, it is more difficult to reverse the transaction.
Looking at the number of fraud cases, both in-person and online card payments are still the most common types, with 514,000 fraudulent transactions in 2025, an increase of more than a quarter compared with 2024. This increase was mainly seen in online payments. At the same time, the total monetary value of fraud involving card payments rose to €41 million last year, up from €36 million in 2024.
The way this fraud takes place varies from case to case. Stolen card details are often used for online payments, particularly in foreign countries. Fraudsters typically get this information by sending fake emails on behalf of a bank or other organisation – a practice known as phishing.
Consumers and businesses are also sometimes tricked into authorising a fraudulent transaction themselves. Lost or stolen debit or credit cards are more frequently used in fraudulent payments made at points of sale, however.
Fraud involving cash withdrawals was less common than fraud involving card payments and bank transfers, but this type of fraud was also up, though remaining lower than in 2022. In 2025, the monetary value stood at around €10 million, compared with €6 million a year earlier. The number of fraud cases rose from around 12,000 to 15,000 during the same period. Notably, after declining in 2023 and 2024, the average fraud amount per transaction increased again in 2025. This type of fraud is mainly linked to the misuse of lost or stolen payment cards.
As of today, DNB is publishing new figures on payment fraud. These figures relate to fraudulent transactions, both in terms of number and monetary value. The transactions have been identified as fraudulent by payment service providers, for example because they were made without the payer’s authorisation or because the victim was tricked.
The values reported include all transactions classified as fraudulent, even in cases where the transaction was subsequently reversed or the victim was reimbursed, either in full or in part. The figures are therefore not representative for actual damages.
Nor do they cover all available payment methods: they account for roughly two-thirds of the market. Figures are not yet being disclosed for fraud involving e-money, direct debits, international transfers and transfers between different accounts at the same bank.
The fraud figures are based on reports submitted by payment service providers in accordance with European reporting requirements. The table will be updated twice a year.
More information on victims of online crimes is available on the website of Statistics Netherlands (in Dutch).
See the website of the Dutch national anti-fraud hotline for information on fraud and how to avoid becoming a victim.
Table 5.12.2: Fraud in the payment system
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