AIB has warned its customers of the latest scam text message that could see your account wiped.
The bank urged customers to remain vigilant over the festive period after it received reports of ‘fake’ text messages being sent to customers appearing to be from the bank's phone number.
AIB said: “BE AWARE - Criminals can make their fake text messages look like they come from us. Because of how your phone sorts texts messages genuine and fraudulent AIB texts can appear the same.”
The bank outlined a potential scenario that customers should watch out for and explained what actions they should take should they receive a fraudulent text.
It said: “Read how Teresa almost got scammed recently.”
“Teresa gets a text from AIB from time to time with a code to log in online or approve a card purchase online.
“She sees a new text that causes her to panic.. someone has tried to log into her account and she URGENTLY! needs to click the link in the text message.
“STOP!
- AIB will never send you a link in a text message or ask you to click a link
- Ask yourself, did this come from AIB?
“Teresa clicks the link in the text message and is brought to a website created by criminals to look exactly like AIB Online Banking.
“The message on the fraudster's site confirms her fears that someone is trying to log into her account.
“STOP!
- Check the URL is secure and make sure it starts with 'https://' - if it does not then do not continue.
- If you're not sure open www.aib.ie and compare the two webpages to spot the differences.
“Teresa types in her AIB registration number and 5 digit PAC details on the fraudulent website as she is afraid someone has gained access to her account.
“Teresa sees other screens asking her for details like name, phone number, date of birth, card details. They even ask her to use her card reader to cancel activity on her account.
“STOP!
- AIB will never ask you for all of your personal details like these.
“As Teresa urgently wants to see if someone else has accessed her account she doesn't think twice about inputting her personal information.
“Teresa then gets a call from someone pretending to be from AIB who offers help to cancel fraudulent transactions on her account. All she needs to do, they say, is to enter details into her card reader and call out those codes over the phone.
“STOP!
- AIB will never call to ask for Card Reader codes.
“The criminal has her Online Banking login details and Teresa is about to give the additional security code they need to take money from her account. But she thinks something seems a bit odd.
“Teresa logs into her Online Banking profile through her app/desktop and checked her recent/pending transactions to find there is no fraudulent activity.
“Teresa hangs up the call and realises she had a lucky escape. She contacts AIB to tell them what happened and update her login details.”
If you believe you have acted on a false text message, email or phone call, please go to our website and search Security Centre for our contact details.
For further information to protect yourself against fraud, visit the Security Centre on our website or refer to the BPFI FraudSmart website.
