An alleged phone thief posed as a guard in a bid to coax his victim out of giving her the passcode.
A woman who had her phone snatched out of her hands was left gobsmacked after getting a call from someone purporting to be from Kevin St Garda Station.
The woman explained how she had been standing outside Workman's in Dublin on Friday night when someone took the phone from her grasp and ran away.
The next day the woman's friend got a call from a man claiming to be from Kevin St Garda Station.
The man told her he needed to speak with the phone's owner and after she was put in touch he asked for the passcode to "see if the phone was hers".
The woman said she was "so close to give it to him because it sounded so real" but didn't and instead went to the station where it was confirmed to be a scam.
A garda spokeman confirmed gardai will never seek personal information over the phone and that people should always contact a garda station directly.
He said: "People receiving unsolicited communications looking for personal details should not reply to text messages, emails or other communications.
"They should contact the Garda Station directly to check on the validity of the communications they have received before taking any action."
