- Half of Irish financial organisations say they've felt the direct impact of scams, from rising fraud-prevention costs to compromised customer data
- Social media ads and pop-ups, phishing emails and scam texts: the three biggest channels fraudsters use to reach victims
7 in 10 compliance professionals in Irish financial organisations, rank AI-enabled impersonation scams, including voice cloning, deepfake video, and fake identity use, as the single biggest scam threat facing consumers in 2026.
New research from the Compliance Institute, the professional body for compliance professionals in Ireland, has revealed concern amongst compliance professionals about the role artificial intelligence is playing in scams targeting Irish consumers, with fraudsters increasingly using the technology to impersonate banks, family members and even well-known public figures.
The findings come from a survey of 125 compliance professionals working across Irish financial services organisations, who were asked to identify the top 3 scams, the highest risk channels and the business impacts they consider the biggest threat to Irish consumers this year.
Top 3 Scams identified by the Compliance Institute Scams Survey include:
- AI-enabled impersonation scams, including voice cloning, deepfake video, and fake identity use (e.g. pretending to be a bank, regulator, or family member) (70%);
- Phishing and smishing (text message scams) impersonating trusted brands, delivery companies, banks or government bodies ranked second in the highest risk to consider (50%);
- AI-generated social media and advertising scams, including fake celebrity endorsements and fraudulent influencer content, came third (45%)
Commenting on the findings, Michael Kavanagh, CEO of the Compliance Institute,
“Scams have come a long way from the badly spelled emails or overseas Princes that many of us learned to spot years ago. Fraudsters are now using artificial intelligence to clone voices, generate convincing video and build entire fake identities in order to trick people into handing over their money or personal information.
What makes this wave of fraud so dangerous is how convincing it has become. A phone call that sounds exactly like your bank, or a video that appears to show a celebrity endorsing an investment, can be very difficult to distinguish from the real thing. Criminals don't need to be technically sophisticated themselves anymore because AI tools can do the heavy lifting for them in that regard.”
The Compliance Institute findings echo wider trends emerging in Ireland. Recent research from the Central Bank of Ireland found that more than one in three adults in Ireland have experienced fraud, with almost two-thirds of those losing money as a result, while over a third of victims did not report the incident to any authority. Separately, telecoms provider Three Ireland has said recently that it blocked more than 26 million suspected scam calls and intercepted over 455,000 fraudulent text messages in 2025 alone, while a recent report from the Irish Internet Hotline identified more than 200 fake websites set up to target Irish consumers last year, with confirmed financial scams up 52% on the previous year.
The Impact
The Compliance Institute survey also examined how scams are affecting Irish financial organisations directly. While half (50%) of respondents said their organisation had not been impacted by a scam in the last year, the other half reported a range of impacts including:
- Almost a quarter (24%) reported an increase in regulatory reporting and compliance workload
- Over one in five (21%) said their organisation had incurred significant costs from fraud prevention and supporting affected customers
- One in five (20%) reported an increase in fraud-related complaints and case handling
- Almost one in five (18%) said their customers had lost money and/or had their data compromised
Mr Kavanagh continued,
“Though half of those we asked said they hadn’t been directly impacted by scams this year, the reality is that scams are now a live, day-to-day cost for almost every financial service organisation, whether that's in direct financial terms, extra compliance workload, or the time and resources spent supporting customers who've been targeted.”
Consumer Exposed
Asked where they believe consumers are most commonly exposed to scams, compliance professionals identified the following as the top 3:
- Social media adverts and pop-up promotions (65%)
- Email phishing campaigns (64%)
- SMS or messaging apps such as WhatsApp (64%)
Mr. Kavanagh, went on to say,
“Consumers are being targeted through the platforms they use every single day whether it’s their social media feed, their inbox, their phone. That’s why this isn't just an issue for banks and regulators to solve. Everyone, from individuals, families, businesses, tech platforms, and regulators, has a role to play in staying alert and stopping these scams in their tracks.”
