Banking fraud in Italy causes 1.1 billion euro loss

Recent data reveals a significant rise in banking fraud in Italy, with over 1.8 million people falling victim to attempted scams in the past year, resulting in losses exceeding 1.1 billion euros. According to research by mUp Research for Facile.it, the most common methods include phishing via email (36%) and fake SMS messages (34.4%), followed by deceptive phone calls and fraudulent websites. The emergence of artificial intelligence has increased the sophistication of these attacks, enabling criminals to clone voices to deceive users.

Unexpectedly, younger demographics are highly vulnerable; the fraud rate is 5.1% among 25-34-year-olds and 6.2% among 35-44-year-olds. Furthermore, approximately 32.8% of victims do not report these incidents, often due to the perceived small scale of the loss or feelings of shame.

In response to these threats, the Italian Banking Association (ABI), in collaboration with consumer associations and CERTFin, has released two new digital security guides. These resources aim to promote conscious use of banking and payment channels by providing practical instructions on recognizing digital threats, protecting personal data, and conducting secure online purchases.