Gardai have issued a warning to the public after they saw a number of reports coming in about a new scam targeting people over text and call.
Phone holders in Loughrea have been the target of the latest scheme, which has seen a number of cases reported to gardai in recent days.
The scammers are pretending to be from delivery firms such as Amazon, and are trying to trick unsuspecting shoppers into giving up their sensitive information.
People are receiving messages, phone calls, and emails, where the culprits are asking for payment, personal information, or are offering an unexpected refund.
They will often ask for your bank details and pin, and will later target your account by taking money out.
Amazon has repeatedly warned that it will never ask for personal information, or ask the public to make a payment outside of its website such as via a bank transfer or emailing credit card details.
In a post on Facebook, gardai warned this evening that “a number of scam phone calls have been reported to Loughrea Gardai in recent days.
“Scammers are pretending to be from delivery firms such as Amazon, and attempt to trick unsuspecting shoppers to part with sensitive information.
“If you receive a phone call out of the blue, email, or text message claiming to be from shopping sites or online traders asking for payment, personal information or offering a refund you do not expect, please do not share any personal information.
“If a person receives an email regarding an order or Prime membership, or anything that is not recognisable, they are asked to forward the email to stop-spoofing@amazon.com and then delete it.
“Do not click on any links in such emails.”
