Often singled out in the area of fraud, cryptocurrencies are clearly not the only payment method used by malicious actors. In fact, bank transfers are now becoming a widely favored solution in so-called “social engineering” scams.
Payment fraud is on the rise
Regardless of the technique used or the payment method selected, malicious actors are always on the lookout for the best opportunities available to ensure the success of their crimes. This is currently an unfavorable reality for cryptocurrency holders, who have been targeted by an unprecedented increase in kidnappings and false imprisonment since the beginning of the year. In this context, the Observatoire de la sécurité des moyens de paiement (OSMP) has just published a recent report on the more specific case of payment fraud. A sector that appeared to have stabilized in 2024 saw a resurgence in activity in the first half of 2025, with a 7% increase year-on-year, resulting in an estimated loss of €618 million.
This increase, presented by the organization—which brings together public authorities, the banking sector, merchants, and consumers—is greater than that of non-cash payment flows (transfers, checks, mobile payments, and even cryptocurrencies), estimated at 5% over the same period.
The reason for this is a record increase in “social engineering” fraud, which now accounts for 40% of the total amount stolen in the first half of 2025, compared to 32% in 2023 and 2024.
These manipulation and deception techniques include phishing, but also “pig butchering” romance scams and now targeted deepfake calls.
The Observatory therefore calls on users to remain highly vigilant, particularly in the face of social engineering techniques whereby fraudsters impersonate bank agents.
The Observatory therefore calls on users to remain very vigilant, particularly in the face of social engineering techniques used by fraudsters to impersonate bank employees or payment service providers through various methods: fake calls, emails, text messages or instant messages, fraudulent advertisements linking to fake websites, etc.
Greater use of transfers
Faced with this type of recurring scam, the banking system has decided to implement stricter authentication measures. As a result, fraudsters are now trying to circumvent these measures by moving away from credit card payments and turning to “transfers made from online banking accounts held by individuals and professionals .”
Following improvements to strong authentication processes on the one hand, and the rollout of the number authentication mechanism (MAN) which has helped to curb the theft of phone numbers on the other, fraudsters are now using generic numbers such as “06” or “07” or the call functions of instant messaging applications.
Faced with this situation, the Deputy Governor of the Banque de France and President of the OSMP, Denis Beau, wishes to maintain and intensify the measures already in place. He states that “the resurgence of fraud involving manipulation, which particularly affects remote card and transfer payments, shows that this collective effort must continue.” To achieve this, in 2026 the Observatory will focus its efforts on “the deployment of new technical measures (…) to major digital players.”
