Business owners would do anything to protect the assets they have worked so hard to build – this much is true. You may have already taken steps to improve your company’s cybersecurity and trained your employees in fraud prevention, to reduce the risk of your business falling victim to financial crime.

While it’s essential to ensure security measures are in place to protect your company’s wealth, you could be unintentionally leaving your personal wealth exposed to crime. As a financially savvy individual, you may not consider yourself an “easy target” for fraudsters – but research shows that financial scams are increasing.

With this in mind, here’s all you need to know about fraud in Ireland, plus how to protect your personal wealth from scammers in light of rising cases.

The 6 most common types of financial scam in Ireland

According to An Garda Siochana, there are six prevalent forms of fraud that could put your personal wealth at risk.

1. Payment card fraud

In these cases, criminals steal either your payment card details, or the card itself, and use this information to spend your money.

2. Invoice redirection fraud

These types of scam pertain to businesses rather than individuals, so it’s crucial for you to be aware of them as a business owner.

Invoice redirection scams involve a criminal impersonating a trusted supplier already used by a business, asking staff to “confirm banking details” or otherwise extracting financial information from the business. The scammer then uses this information to drain funds from the company.

3. CEO fraud

Once again, these are business-related scams that could hurt your company’s wealth. In cases of CEO fraud, the fraudster impersonates the leader of a company, contacting more junior members of staff about a “financial issue” and asking them for specific details or to transfer funds to a certain account.

4. Phishing scams

“Phishing” describes email, text, or social media communications that scam users into sending money or giving away sensitive information.

Usually, phishing scammers impersonate a trusted organisation, such as your bank. They could also pose as pension providers or investment platforms, offering you a “new opportunity” that generates “guaranteed returns” or a similar, too-good-to-be-true reward.

5. Phone scams

While cold-calling is becoming less and less common in the age of social media and online finance, phone scams are still prevalent.

6. Advance fee fraud

Advance fee fraudsters trick consumers into paying for a service or product in advance that doesn’t actually exist. For instance, you could rent a holiday apartment through an online transaction, only to arrive and realise you had been scammed by a fake rental site. Or, you could order a Christmas present online that never arrives.

Fraudsters stole nearly €100 million from Irish citizens in 2023 alone

Shockingly, a study from FraudSMART, published by RTÉ, reveals that financial criminals stole nearly €100 million from Irish citizens in 2023 alone.

This is a 16% increase on the previous year, exemplifying just how steep the ongoing rise in financial scams truly is.

3 tips for reducing your chances of falling victim to a financial scam

1. Be pragmatic when spending online

Almost all of us book holidays, buy gifts, and access our savings, investments, and pensions online in 2024.

While there is nothing wrong with keeping up with the online world, remember to remain pragmatic when dealing with financial matters online.

Take the time to ensure that sites you’re using are legitimate. For instance, if you click on an “offer” from a store you like, sent to you by email, you could open a new tab and manually find the real store website to see if the same deals are being offered there.

Just taking this simple extra step could open your eyes to potential impersonation scams from criminals posing as trusted institutions.

2. Exercise caution if you’re contacted out of the blue

Legitimate providers of financial services rarely contact you out of the blue. If you are not already a customer with a specific bank or investment provider, and you receive contact with an “offer”, it’s more than likely to be fraudulent.

It’s prudent to be cautious if you receive contact from a provider you bank or invest with, too. If you receive an email saying there has been “suspicious activity on your account”, or similar, this could be designed to trick you – so always cross-reference the information by calling their helpline or logging into your secure account before acting.

3. Work with an experienced financial planner

In a world of endless options when it comes to managing your finances, it is no surprise that more and more people are falling victim to wealth scams.

Even if you consider yourself a financially knowledgeable person, you could be caught off guard, with potentially harmful consequences to your hard-earned wealth.

That’s where working with a financial planner could be so valuable. Rather than taking a “DIY” approach to saving and investing, you’ll have a qualified professional to guide you. We can help to keep your wealth safe and secure, away from the prying hands of criminals.

And, if you do fall victim to a scam or suspect you have been approached by a financial criminal, we can work with you as you take steps towards protecting your wealth from further harm.

Get in touch

If you are a business owner who wants to work towards your personal wealth goals and keep your assets safe in the meantime, we can help.

Email us at clients@iqf.ie, or call 353 71 915 5560.

Please note

This article is for information only. It does not constitute advice.

It describes financial planning services that iQ Financial can offer to you. Financial planning services are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.