Overview

• A July survey by Visa Deutschland and Forsa found that 18 percent of German consumers have experienced online payment fraud.
• Only 60 percent of actual victims report incidents to police despite nine in ten non-victims saying they would.
• Consumers lose an average of €763 annually, with Generation X bearing the highest losses at €1,230 and Generation Z cutting its average loss by 57 percent to €397.
• Phishing remains the dominant tactic—79 percent of respondents received fake delivery-service messages—and criminals are increasingly using AI to craft realistic scam websites and messages.
• Eighty-two percent of surveyed Germans report facing more frequent online fraud attempts over the past year, highlighting the escalating sophistication of scams.