AIB customers are being warned about a clever scam after an Irish woman was almost stung for €2,000.
Niamh Burke took to Facebook to warn people about a phone call she received where hackers used software to disguise their number as a legitimate AIB phone number.
She said: “I got a call from the number 01 269 5022, which is actually an AIB number.
“The person on the phone knew my phone number, billing address and last 4 digits of my current account.”
Ms Burke said the person on the phone told her an attempt was made to pay AirBnB almost €2,000.
They asked her to confirm she made this payment.
She said: “I, of course, was freaking out thinking some had my card details! He didn’t ask me any personal questions only to confirm my last transaction, which would be pretty normal if you card was compromised.”
After googling the phone number while on the phone to the fraudster, Ms Burke said the number came up as a legitimate AIB number, so she assumed it was real.
She added: “He was not Irish, and I was cautious in case he would ask me to give any of my account details…
“He then proceeded to ask me to enter my 8 digit internet banking number into the phone, telling the line was encrypted.”
“Thank god I did as they immediately told me that was a scam, and they were using software to disguise their number as an AIB number!!
“She told me my account could have been cleaned out if I gave them my internet banking details.”
The AIB worker explained to Ms Burke that this occurs when a customer makes an online purchase.
If this website is hacked, the scammers will gain access to all of the customer's details.
Ms Burke said: “It was so close to a legit call it’s actually scary. If in doubt always hang up and ring the company back yourself!!”
Another Facebook user commented on the post, saying, "Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. They had lots of my details, told me they were trying to help me stop someone taking €800 from my account, and asked me to confirm many details.
“Had my account number, but some of the numbers in the wrong order, so I was a bit suspicious, and thankfully had recently read AIB’s message about hackers and that the bank never calls and gives out details, so hung up and called the bank fraud team, and it was a scam.”
Another user wrote, “This happened with KBC too. Phone number and text message came in from KBC. The text even came under the same chain as previous communication.”
A spokesperson for AIB said: "If you believe that your bank details have been compromised, call the number on the back of your credit or debit card or alternatively call the official number for the branch on the AIB website."
