The issue of people falling victim to scams in Ireland is nothing new, however, the instances in which they occur are increasing, and customers need to be savvier than ever to identify them.
As more and more people are educated on what to look out for with regard to fraudulent behaviour over phone calls, texts, and emails, fraudsters have been acting fast to make their criminal activity as undetectable as possible.
Now, some of the websites used to scam money from innocent people look incredibly legitimate, texts are embedded into official bank threads to make them difficult to decipher and phone calls are made by very convincing criminals pretending to work for a host of government agencies.
READ MORE: Over 50s warned about latest WhatsApp 'family emergency' scam
Time and time again we’re being warned never to hand over personal details or bank account information over the phone, the internet, or in emails, and as things continue to progress an expert at AIB has sent new advice to customers across Ireland.
Tom Mullen, Head of Head of Compliance Assurance and Fraud at AIB says:
Hang up!
Scammers calling and pretending to be your bank, the police, Amazon ... with an urgent message that you must act on. Hang up!
Criminals calling you from a number that looks the same as ours. Hang up!
Delete the message
"Criminals have your card details" "We will send a secure courier to collect it". The courier is innocent, the motive is not. Delete the message!
Don’t click
When you click on a link in a text or email it takes you to the fraudsters website that mirrors ours. We don't ask you to click on links. Don't click!
Scammers sometimes send emails that look like they’re coming from us "Your account or card has been blocked", "You owe us money". Don't Click, Delete!
Make the call
An email saying we have changed our bank account please make the next payment to our new one - in a different country! Call the real supplier to check.
Too good to be true
Investment Returns that are too good to be true, false celebrity endorsements, shiny crypto-bling; early, small gain to lure you into a sense of security. Like they say If the returns look too good to be true, they probably are.
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