Massive increase in fraud crimes in Dundalk and across Louth in 2021

There was a 54% increase in the number of fraud, deception and related offences recorded in Dundalk Garda Station last year, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 162 cases were recorded at Dundalk Garda Station in 2021, up from 105 in 2020 and 90 in 2019. 

The increase in fraud crimes was replicated in garda stations across Louth last year. Ardee saw fraud offences almost treble last year, with 37 offences recorded, up from 13 in 2020. In Dunleer, 22 cases were recorded, up from five the year previously. Drogheda recorded 181 fraud, deception and related offences in 2021, up from 97 in 2020, representing an increase of 87%.

Fraud crimes increased by more than 116% in 2021 across the State. Commenting on the CSO release, Jim Dalton, Statistician, said: “Recorded Crime statistics for the year ending in December 2021 showed that the number of fraud incidents recorded on An Garda Síochána (AGS)’s PULSE database continued to rise and reached a new level.

"There were 16,929 frauds recorded in the 12-month period compared to just 7,834 in the previous year, an increase of 116.1%. The increase was largely driven by unauthorised transactions and attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone."

It is important to note that the crime statistics released by the CSO today, continue to be classified as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO. Find out more about what this classification means here.