A Tipperary woman was almost conned out of hundreds of euro over text and is warning other people not to fall for the intricate scam.
The Irish mother, who is living in the southern county, received a message from a criminal purporting to be one of her kids.
They managed to manipulate the conversation so they did not have to identify her child but made it sound legitimate.
The first message said: “Hii mam. My other phone crashed. But this is my temporary number. You can save this one. Message me if you seen this.”
The woman responded to the scammer by saying: “Which of my children is this?”
To which they answered and cleverly avoided having to know a name by writing: “The oldest one mam lol.
“And mam do you have a quick moment now?”
After she responded by saying ‘yes’ went on to say they couldn’t pay online for a new phone because the authentication code was sent to their old number.
They then proceed to ask her to pay for their new phone and promise to pay her back when they regain access to their account.
The message read: “I was just trying to order a new phone but it won’t let me do it.
“That’s because the notification number goes to my old number. Might it be okay if you pay the payment until I get back into my banking? That will be on Saturday.”
She continued responding to the 089 number until a friend pointed out the potential of it being a scam, but she admitted to Tipp FM that she was about to fall for it.
The new type of scam is alarming for many, as it’s likely to be more local than other online scams seen in recent years.
Unlike other fake phone numbers, this has 10-digits and is on an Irish network, whereas international fraudsters have been caught out calling from 9-digit numbers.
You can protect yourself from scams by always:
- Knowing who you are dealing with
- Being alert for suspicious behaviour
- Protecting your personal information
- Protecting your money
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
