Gardai have warned the public about a new scam that could see you lose thousands within seconds.
Scam calls, texts and emails increased throughout the pandemic as fraudsters took advantage of people using more online services and working from home.
The latest scam involved a customer being notified of an unknown direct debit being made from their account in a bogus text that appeared to be from their bank.
The text was then followed up by a phone call from a male pretending to be from the fraud department of the supposed bank, asking the victim to supply him with their bank details.
As the scammer had used cloning software to make their number look as though it was from the bank, the victim believed it was genuine and handed over their details.
A garda spokesperson said: “The online frauds are continuing.
“This week we had an unsuspecting victim receive a text message purporting to be from Bank of Ireland.
“This text stated that an unknown direct debit was added to the victim's account.
“This was then followed up by a phone call from a male purporting to be from the bank's fraud section displaying what appeared to be the correct number of the bank.
“The victim unwittingly thought this to be a genuine call and provided his bank details when asked, and a large sum of money was then removed from the account.
“Remember fraudsters can spoof a phone number to convince you the call is genuine.
“Also don't forget no bank employee will ever ask for your personal details over the phone.
“Please Be Alert for such scammers.”
Bank of Ireland has issued the following advice.
If you have received a suspicious text claiming to be from Bank of Ireland, please do the following:
•Do not respond unless you are entirely satisfied that the text is genuine. If you are not sure, we can check it for you – just send it to 365security@boi.com and we’ll let you know if it was really from us. Remember to include the phone number that the text was sent from, or forward a screenshot of the text if possible.
•Do not use a phone number provided in the text which could be fake.
•Do not click on any links.
•Delete the text.
•If you have clicked on a suspicious link, call us on our Freephone numbers as soon as possible.
You should never
•Click on or open suspicious links and attachments.
•Respond to unsolicited text messages.
•Share your banking details, including your full online banking PIN, or other personal information if requested via text message.
Bank of Ireland will never
•Send you a text with a link directly to the login page of our online banking channels.
•Ask you to provide all the digits of your six-digit 365 PIN.
•Ask you to transfer money out of your account to protect yourself from fraud.
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