European Card Fraud - Spain

Spain Bucks the Trend and Keeps Losses under Control

Spain has demonstrated clear, consistent fraud prevention over the last 10 or so years. Although consumer card spending has increased between 2024 and 2025 (from €486M to €503M), fraud losses remain very close, with €89.8M in 2024 and €89.9M in 2025. Spain saw its highest losses around 2008-9, with highs of around €125M, so this trajectory is very encouraging for the country. Their basis points are also under control, at 1.79. Spain has done good work bringing good performance into an even stronger position amid a sea of significant threats from phishing and social engineering in the card space. 

Social engineering scams have remained stubbornly persistent in Spain and, according to a recent Biocatch report, now account for 58% of all reported fraud in the country, with mobile devices, especially Android, increasingly targeted by malware. As Strong Customer Authentication rollout has strengthened Spain’s resolve against card fraud significantly, fraudsters are now looking to other vulnerabilities in order to exploit consumers. 

Spanish banks should now focus on tackling the subtle warning signs of social engineering, utilising the most advanced AI and machine learning tools, such as Scam Signal, to look for patterns of risky scam behaviour. Moreover, being able to profile the full 360-view of the customer is also vital, given that the point of compromise occurs before the payment stage.