Fraud on the Rise

Rise in reported fraud offences

The number of fraud-related offences reported to Gardaí in Waterford-Kilkenny has, on average increased over the past two years, but Gardaí are doing all they can to combat these scams, as officers in Waterford were recently involved in a Europe-wide operation that recovered over two million euros in Bitcoin. According to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there was an almost 9% increase in the number of these offences reported to Gardaí in the south-east between 2024 and 2025.

The Munster Express spoke to Garda Superintendent Gavin Hegarty, who highlighted the different types of fraud scams that are occurring at the moment, and offered advice for members of the public on how to remain vigilant. The Garda website defines fraud as something that occurs when “an individual deceives another by inducing them to do something or not do something that results in a financial loss.” These types of fraud offences can be committed either online, in person or via correspondence.

Speaking at a quarterly meeting of Waterford Local Community Safety Partnership (WLCSP), held in Dungarvan on Monday, 7 September, Superintendent Gavin Hegarty provided updates on recent crime figures and explained how Waterford Gardaí investigate frauds. He also provided advice for the public on how to avoid falling victim to scams. At the meeting, Supt. Hegarty said that an average of 150 and 200 fraud-related offences are reported to Waterford Gardaí every quarter, with some of these being reported retrospectively rather than necessarily occurring during the time period they are reported.

Investigation challenges and police advice

Supt. Hegarty explained how fraud-related offences can be reported to An Garda Síochána. “[With] financial institutions, the obligation is always on the institution, that when they become aware of a fraud, part-fraud, or an attempted takeover of somebody’s account that they’re obliged to report it to An Garda Síochána – so that can take some time to happen. It can happen without the person who was the victim at that point ever knowing that it has happened,” the Superintendent said.

“They may have got their money back, but that crime still counts, and it gets reported to An Garda Síochána. At the moment, we have one or two financial institutions where it’s currently two years post the event, but that still has to be investigated by us,” he said. “So, myself and Larry, [Superintendent Sheahan, Dungarvan Garda Station] both have teams of people who are literally, all they’re doing is investigating online frauds, and the retrospective online frauds, and it’s taking a massive amount of time and resources.

“In the vast majority of cases, we find that the money has gone out of the State, and that proves extra difficult trying to bring resolution to that for the victim and trying to get the money back.” Supt. Hegarty spoke to this newspaper after the meeting to expand further on his advice for how people can remain vigilant about frauds.

“In terms of advice, there’s a couple of very simple things. Any text or email that somebody gets from anybody, purporting to be from a financial institution, or an offer, or somebody contacting them, that puts them under pressure to make a financial decision really quickly, and to click on a link, or to open up and provide details that they wouldn’t normally give away, should be avoided,” the Superintendent told The Munster Express.

Public impact and cryptocurrency recovery

Independent Councillor David Daniels shared at the WLCSP meeting that his elderly relative was recently defrauded out of £25,000 sterling after falling victim to a scam over the phone. Cllr. Daniels questioned what can be done to stop criminals committing these types of fraud offences. Cllr. Daniels said: “Can you see any way of catching these criminals? They just seem to be getting more intelligent, using more technology”.

At the WLCSP meeting, Supt Hegarty explained that with an ongoing operation among Waterford Gardaí, there has been “fantastic success” in relation to the detection of frauds. He mentioned a recent recovery of over 2m euros worth of Bitcoin, which was an operation conducted with police colleagues across Europe. He said: “Without getting into specifics, we recovered in excess of two million euros in Bitcoin as a result of an investigation we were conducting, and I think eight or nine people are currently before the courts in relation to money laundering and that type of offence. That’s a pan-European operation … and it is significant”.