Fraud has increased by 40 per cent in the State over the last year, at a time when levels of other crimes have dropped as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite reports of increased violence in cities, particularly Dublin, the number of assaults and public order crimes has fallen.
A total of 3,778 offences relating to breaches of Covid-19 regulations were recorded in the second quarter of this year, according to new Central Statistics Office (CSO) data.
This is a much lower figure than the 10,438 offences recorded in the first quarter of 2021.
The CSO data shows the number of fraud offences reported to gardai rose by 40 per cent in the year to the end of June, while burglaries fell by 37 per cent during the same period.
“The increase (in fraud crime) has occurred mostly in quarter one and quarter two of 2021 and primarily relates to fraudulent attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone as well as fraudulent use of credit and debit card information,” said CSO crime statistician Sam Scriven.
He added that the CSO is awaiting more information about cancelled 999 calls before the impact of the Garda scandal can be factored into crime statistics.
The rise in fraud cases may be linked to scam texts and phone calls that have been widespread in the last few months.
