According to a 2025 Europol assessment, online fraud represents a major criminal threat, affecting a growing number of victims and causing substantial financial harm. Following the ProtectEU Internal Security Strategy issued in 2025, the European Commission is developing an action plan on online fraud to strengthen prevention, enhance law enforcement responses and improve victim support.

Victims of crime in the EU benefit from legal protection afforded to them under Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial) and the Victims’ Rights Directive (Directive 2012/29/EU), which is currently under revision.  Under this directive, victims have a right to be informed about progress on the matter they have reported to the authorities, to be acknowledged as victims who reported the crime, and to participate in criminal proceedings. Under EU law, rights are afforded to victims of all crime, including online fraud.

This short paper aims to shed light on the prevalence of online fraud, on reporting it to the police and other services, and on the impact it has on victims.

The findings are based on an EU-wide Eurobarometer survey of 26 453 respondents and – specifically – data from questions developed by FRA.  For more details on the methodology and data collection, see the box ‘Data collection’. Separately, FRA is also planning to release findings from its ongoing qualitative research on the rights of online fraud victims, which involves in-depth interviews with victims of online fraud, legal practitioners and other professionals in eight Member States (Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden).