Payment Fraud: People Not Careful Enough

People are aware of the methods of payment fraud, they are afraid of becoming victims of fraud, but they do not consciously protect themselves against it, according to a representative research commissioned by OTP Bank.

Almost all respondents have heard of some form of banking fraud and 81% fear becoming a victim of cybercrime. Although more than 80% of the respondents think they can filter out suspicious content, the data from the Hungarian National Bank contradicts this, OTP Bank said in a statement on Monday.

In the summary, it was recalled that last year there were almost 6,000 successful cases of abuse in electronic money transactions, worth more than HUF 9 billion. This was 238% more than in 2021. In terms of channels, most of the successful misuse was via the internet (3,400), followed by mobile phone fraud (2,318) and paper fraud (207).

According to the survey, 92% of respondents are aware that even the most cautious people can be victims of fraud. 85% of respondents said that following a few basic rules can make you relatively safe.

However, almost half of respondents believe that it is not worth worrying so much about security because if fraudsters try to get data or money from anyone, they will succeed anyway. To make matters worse, people are reluctant to compromise their comfort level, with a third of respondents to the survey not even following basic security rules if it means compromising their comfort, OTP Bank said.