The last provisional crime rates of Ireland show an alarming growth in the number of fraud offences, despite the fact that most of the traditional types of crime are on the decline.
According to the figures issued by An Garda Síochána, property and violent criminality have decreased in 2025, but economic criminality, in particular, fraud and Internet fraud, has increased strongly, raising alarm among law enforcement and consumer protection organisations.
Sudden Increase in Fraud and Economic Crime
Provisional data given by the national police agency point to a terrible rise in fraud offences by 137 per cent in the year 2025 relative to 2024. The increase involves a number of types of fraud and financial offenses, which is one of the most notable spikes in the crime rates.
The figures reflect especially high increases in:
- Deception and other crimes increased by 273 per cent.
- Forgery, up 160 per cent
- Online auction and shopping fraud increased by 183 per cent.
- Money laundering, up 164 per cent
- Card-not-present fraud increased by 95 per cent in comparison to the previous year.
Besides these, the number of bogus tradesman cases reported rose by 43 per cent, and this stresses how offline fraudsters are evolving with the digital ones.
Gardaí explained some of the growth in the number of reports of fraud by referring to a backlog of reporting in the previous years, though they pointed out that a major aspect of the growth was driven by online wrongdoing and fraud that took advantage of the online platform.
Falls in Traditional Crime Categories
In comparison, the recent statistics are much more optimistic in relation to numerous classic types of crimes. An Garda Síochána says that:
- Aggravated burglaries were down 14 per cent.
- Non-aggravated burglary declined by 13 per cent.
- Residential burglaries went down by 16 per cent.
- Car theft also declined by 16 per cent.
- Robbery from an individual was down by 20 per cent.
These reductions were also evident in various regions of the country. In the north-west, the decline in non-aggravated burglaries in the area was 34 per cent, and the southern part of the country also experienced massive declines.
Violent and sexual crimes also dropped, and the incidences of rape and sexual assault had plummeted by 12 per cent. There was no difference in the number of murder and manslaughter cases, and 40 incidents were reported in the years 2024 and 2025.
Focus on Online and Digital Fraud
The disproportionate increase in fraud is a reflection of broader international trends in online fraud and online-facilitated crime, wherein it is becoming easier for criminals to focus on individuals and businesses over the internet. The government has cautioned that the more financial dealings and personal interactions are carried out digitally, the more the chances of exploitation increase.
Another frequent form of scams online is through online auctions and online shopping. These related scams commonly include fraudulent postings to collect credit card details or cash and not send goods, whereas sophisticated money-laundering transactions obfuscate illegal financial transactions.
Even though the national rates of crime in Ireland present a situation where the general rates of crime decreased according to the long-term downward trend, with the crime rates registered falling by 7 per cent between 2019 and 2024 despite the population increase, the prevalence of fraud is still a major issue.
Bigger Picture: Road Safety and Domestic Abuse
The statistics are a complex depiction of issues facing society beyond fraud. In 2025, An Garda Siochana got nearly 67,000 calls involving domestic abuse, and this is slightly higher than that of 2024 by approximately two per cent.
In the meantime, road safety statistics deteriorated as almost 54,000 collisions were reported in 2025 (up 4 per cent on the year before) and 188 people were fatally injured on the Irish roads.
Malignant messages — crimes associated with abusive or threatening electronic media — also increased by 27 per cent, indicating that cyberspace is emerging as a contact point of crime as well as social confrontation.
As Ireland adjusts to these changes, the government is bound to keep on improving its gathering of information and intervention methods, so that the reaction keeps in step with the evolving account of criminal conduct.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
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