Isme warns online and telephone fraud could cost small businesses €310m annually
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Business representative group Isme has urged government to introduce measures that will reduce business fraud in Ireland.
The group warned that online and telephone fraud could cost the small business sector €310m annually.
“It is not just these businesses that suffer, consumers are also affected by these types of fraud. This cannot continue, government action is needed,” said Neil McDonnell, CEO of Isme.
Figures release by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week showed incidents of crime involving fraud, deception and related offences plunged 41% to 10,366 in the March quarter due to a fall in scams relating to unauthorised online banking transactions and attempts to steal personal or banking information online or by phone.
However, small firms remain exposed. Businesses were conned out of €8m due to invoice fraud and CEO impersonation fraud during 2022, according to figures from FraudSMART included in a Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) report published earlier this year.
Isme said it will be contacting the Minister for Finance, Minister for Enterprise, Minister for the Environment, the Central Bank, ComReg and the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau about measures to tackle fraud hitting business.
Isme said tackling email compromise, scams texts and calls and invoice redirect fraud should be top priorities.