There were significantly fewer such scams in the country in the fourth quarter than in the previous quarter, but there were still many more than there were two years ago.

Magyar Nemzeti Bank announced on Monday that after a sharp rise for more than a year and a half, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the number and value of damages caused by online fraud via bank transfers have actually decreased. However, the good news should be taken with reservations, because the current number of scams is still much higher compared to the norm of almost two years ago.

The volume of wire transfer fraud committed by payment service providers, such as banks, decreased by 36 percent, from 9,162 billion HUF to 5,769 billion HUF, and the number of cases decreased by 34 percent, from 5,762 HUF to 3,737. The number of complaints received by MNB customer service regarding this matter has also decreased by 13 percent since October. The decline is similar in the Financial Conciliation Council, which operates within the framework of the Central Bank and adjudicates fundamental legal disputes. However, the number of customer alerts remains unchanged and significantly higher than the values ​​at the beginning of 2022.

According to MNB, many banks have developed their own IT abuse screening systems. In addition, they point to the cooperation of KiberPajzs, which now operates with the participation of 10 authorities and interest protection bodies, which “takes the lion's share” in educating consumers. This results in a kiberpajss.hu website; MNB Fraud Recommendation for online fraud screening; The “hotline” between the police and banks, which works to recover the property of affected consumers as quickly as possible; Assistance provided by the Victim Assistance Center of the Ministry of Justice.