The owner of a B&B in one of Ireland's most popular tourist destinations is concerned about the impact scam calls are having on her business.
Mary Barry, who runs Cottage Heights B&B in Castletownbere, West Cork, believes people are wary of picking up their phones when they see a mobile number they don't recognise appear on their screens.
In recent months, Gardai and the Department of Social Protection have issued various warnings about the elaborate 083, 085 and 087 automated calls that have been in circulation.
The increasingly sophisticated scam calls are seemingly rampant at the moment, with fraudsters pretending to be from Government or state agencies attempting to dupe people into handing over passwords or money.
Mrs Barry says she needs to make multiple calls a day to guests to confirm their upcoming bookings at her B&B.
However, she believes that when they see an unknown mobile number calling they just ignore it over worries it might be a scam caller.
"People just aren't answering their mobile phones anymore and it's starting to become a real problem," she told the Irish Mirror.
"I would be calling people the night before just to confirm their booking and to find out their time of arrival the following day, and there's just nobody answering their mobile phones.
"It's definitely down to too many scams doing the rounds and I think people are frightened to answer their phones because it's on the radio, 'Don't answer the phone, there's scams'."
She believes that when she calls guests on her house phone, the chances of someone picking up are much higher than if she called from a mobile number.
She is also subjected to nuisance and scam calls, sometimes as many as 20 in a single day, often from countries abroad.
"I might get some days 20 a day, I might get more. Another day I might get none, " Mrs Barry said.
"But you're running there to answer the phone thinking someone is trying to book a room and then nothing.
"A lot of times my house phone is diverted to my mobile if I'm outside during the day and there's nobody here when I'm out.
"When the house phone is diverted to the mobile, that's when the trouble begins then."
Mrs Barry is also having an issue with calls that only last one or two rings, which if she was phone back, would cost "an arm and a leg".
She feels the extent to which scam calls are so prevalent at the moment is ultimately having a negative impact on her business.
"It's a bit awkward, I'm ringing and ringing and then you have to turn around and text everybody," she added.
"I don't like texting people saying, 'Can I confirm your booking', and asking, 'Can you call me or send me a text back to confirm'.
"I just don't think it's very professional to be sending text messages out to people trying to get some simple information, I should be able to ring, but it's a matter of having to."
