European Card Fraud - Italy

Quiet Consistency Amid Continental Shifts

Italy follows the trend of a steady increase in fraud losses, especially in the Card not Present space. However, the rate of growth is low and consistent, suggesting their fraud defences are tackling the right areas and adapting to the growing rate of fraud across Europe. Minor increases across the board reflect the increase across Europe (e.g., €13.1M from €13M in ID fraud), but Italy is doing well at keeping losses in check and maintaining a robust approach to detection and prevention. CNP fraud is where the largest growth can be seen but is still low, increasing from €42M to €42.5M.

A slight increase in ID fraud is also reflective of the trends we see elsewhere. With the development of deepfake technology and digital ID forgery tools, this trend will persist and grow across the globe while organisations are working to develop equally as sophisticated detection tools. Italy is making good strides to tackle this at a legislative level, introducing an amendment in 2024 to include “online scam” as a specific crime within their cyber security bill. A recent EBA report did not make mention of Italy as a key area of concern for losses, except in the e-money space, which overall forms a small component of fraud losses across Europe. This is promising for Italy and indicative of good measures.