If it were measured as a country then cyber crime, which inflicts damages of around €6trn globally, would be the world’s third-largest economy after the US and China. In Ireland, new research conservatively estimates the economic cost to be more than €300m a year. The research by telecoms regulator ComReg also indicates that last year alone there were approximately 365,000 cases of such fraud in Ireland, mostly as a result of scam calls and texts.