Fraudsters are using coronavirus to carry out scams, Gardai have warned.
The main types of scams include Phishing, Social Engineering Scams and Fraudulent Selling/Trading.
Phishing is where a company or person receives an unsolicited email, text, WhatsApp message or telephone call claiming to be from a legitimate organisation.
These communications will contain an attachment containing vital information regarding the Covid-19 virus and prompting the receiver to open the attachment.
It can also ask the victim to enter email login details to access this vital information and in both ways, can lead to malware infecting the computer.
A Garda spokesman said: “Never open attachments in unsolicited emails and ensure your computer has the most up to date anti-virus software installed.
“Companies are advised to educate staff on the proper procedure for answering and dealing with customers, invoices, direct payments and never change a payment system as a result of an email or an unexpected phone call.
“Do your research, open up websites by searching online yourself rather than following links sent to you in emails or messages.
“People are also advised to be wary of rushed offers, time critical selling as these are indicators of potential fraud. system as a result of an email or an unexpected phone call.”
