Banks take new measures against e-fraud

Of Leonida Stergiou

Assessment of the situation, new information outreach, strengthening of precautionary security measures and proposals to the European Banking Authority (EBA) for the improvement of the PSD2 directive governing electronic transactions are the main issues on the agenda of Greek banks and competent auditing and prosecuting authorities.

Today, for the third time, a wide-ranging meeting is being held at the Ministry of Citizen Protection, with the participation of the banks, the Bank of Greece and representatives of law enforcement authorities in the last six months, on the subject of the restriction of electronics.

Despite the slight reduction in bank fraud following the Christmas campaign, EBA and ECB figures show that the rates are almost three times higher than in the rest of Europe, although the total amounts are lower.

According to the first indications, the Christmas information campaign, with the message “One Pause Enough to Avoid Cyber ​​Fraud”, took place.

New campaign

In this direction, the banks are going to finance and launch a new big information campaign, with two main messages: We never reveal our codes. We think before we click on a link or reply to a message or email.

Recording methodology

The second topic of discussion is the need to clearly separate the cases of fraud related to electronic transactions from those that fall under financial crime in general.

For example, email fraud that promises quick money if someone clicks on a link and invests in a company is different from email fraud, which uses a deceptive message to extract personal data so that the scammer can gain access to the perpetrator’s internet banking.

If, therefore, the measurement in cases of fraud in electronic transactions is limited, then the total turnover of e-fraud in Greece does not exceed 12-15 million euros per year, an amount almost half of what is communicated and reaches 25-30 million. euros or more.

The total amount is “inflated” from cases of fraud in credit transfers (online payments) not because someone “punched” in the system, but because the consumer himself was persuaded to make the transaction, while the perpetrator did not have access to personal data to enter to the electronic banking account or to use the card of the perpetrator etc.

Prevention and investment

The third issue is related to new prevention measures, strengthening cybersecurity systems and investments in technology. The four systemic banks are set to invest a total of around € 1 billion in technology over three years, focusing on cybersecurity, as EBA and ECB analyzes have shown, the cost of cyberattacks is set to rise and pose a risk to capital. of banks.

One of the measures that has already been put in place by all banks is to prioritize calls to their call centers when it comes to reporting fraud.

That is, any bank customer who calls the call center for fraud (use of a password) or suspects that something went wrong (eg clicked on a link in a message) and wants to prevent any fraud against him, then this call automatically takes precedence for connection to representative, so that cards, codes, etc. can be canceled immediately.

Collaboration with EBA

Banks, through their Union, are also taking part in the consultation launched by the European Banking Authority (EBA) on the evaluation and improvement of the PSD2 directive on electronic transactions.

To this end, the EBA published an assessment report on fraud in the second half of 2020 and calls on European banks and national authorities to respond to nine by submitting their proposals by 22 April. The answers from Greece will come from the Bank of Greece.

The data for Greece

From the data provided by EBA to the Greek banks, together with the relevant questionnaire, the following conclusions emerge:

First, the annual cost of electronic fraud in Greece is estimated at over 22 million euros.

Second, most of the money is lost through card transactions, especially in remote online shopping. The total value of the fraud at 12.6 million euros. The average value of the fraud is estimated at 37 euros.

Third, most of the money per scam is lost in credit transfers, ie online payments / funds transfers via internet and mobile banking. Based on data on credit transfers in 2020, 1,910 frauds were detected in Greece, with a total value of 9.3 million euros and an average loss of 4,892 euros. Fourth, in Greece, in 2020 there was a significant increase of 298% in cases of fraud in credit transfers and 313% in their respective value, according to data from the Bank of Greece.

Fourth, the number of cases and the value of ATM fraud (withdrawals) has been limited in Greece and is at exactly the same rates as in the Eurozone. The total loss of money from fraud in cash withdrawals from ATMs is estimated in Greece at 0.7 million euros. The average value of fraud / loss is estimated at 319 euros, compared to 459 euros in the Eurozone.

Fifth, Greek payment service providers show the lowest percentages in loss sharing. In particular, in the cases of card fraud, the banks undertook in the second half of 2020 19% of the losses, while the card user 26%. The remaining percentage harmed others (eg traders, etc.). The rate of 19% is the lowest in the rest of the EU, where it ranges between 23% (Spain) and 80% (Portugal).

Delay

Data on payments and fraud are published with a long delay.

In our efforts more up-to-date data from the Hellenic Banking Association (especially during the period of the campaign for electronic fraud at Christmas but also a few months before with the meeting of banks, TTE and EET at the Ministry of Protection) and for each newer element it refers only in official announcements.

The Hellenic Banking Association has even stopped posting statistics on payment systems since 2015 (for 2014). The most recent posts of the Hellenic Banking Association, which participates in the meetings for information and public awareness, concerned the latest Christmas campaign and graphs with the most common scams on the occasion of the cyber security month at the end of 2021.

The ECB has published the value of transactions for 2020, the Bank of Greece the value of card transactions (and fraud data) for the first half of 2021, the EBA the data for the second half of 2020.