A Cork woman was conned out of €14,000 after being caught out by a scam text from evil fraudsters.
It comes as Gardai continue to warn the public to be alert for suspicious texts, scam calls or forms online.
The woman in question received a text message claiming to be from her bank. She followed instructions in the message and entered her bank details. Her account was then deducted to value of €14,000.
She was not alone as two other examples were provided by Gardai of incidents where people had been caught.
One man received a text claiming to be from his bank. The message stated that his account had been suspended due to unexplained activity. To activate it he was asked to click a link and enter details. Over €3,000 was then taken from his account.
On a third occasion, a woman received a phone call from a man claiming to be from her broadband provider. The scammer got the woman to download an app onto her laptop where she then entered bank card details.
Four transactions were then made resulting in the loss of almost €3,500.
Speaking today, Inspector Ann Marie Twomey said "Whilst the scammers may change their stories or methods, their goal is always the same – they want to access your sensitive information and get their hands on your money.
"We need everyone to spread the word, people of all ages and all walks of life are falling victim to fraud on a daily basis. They may have your name or know some bit of information about you, but you must never give out your details be it over the phone, text or email.
"If the person who contacts you claims to be from someone you are associated with, carry out your own enquiries to find out if it’s genuine – but do not clink any links they send you, download an app or call the number they contact you from or that is stated in their email."
