Gardai have issued a warning over the so-called 'grandparent scam' doing the rounds and catching out unsuspecting phone users.
The suspicious texts are sent to people by fraudsters pretending to be close relatives in need of help due to financial difficulties.
The text typically asks people to send money directly to a bank account in order to pay off an urgent medical or financial bill, using terms such as ‘mam’, ‘dad’ and ‘granny’ at the beginning of the message.
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Gardai say it is important for anyone receiving a suspicious text to resist the urge to reply straight away and establish facts first.
The advice reads: “Do not volunteer information as fraudsters are known to ‘fish’ for facts which they then use to make themselves sound more credible. Do not send cash, gift cards or money transfers – once the fraudster receives the money, it’s gone.”
Crucially, they also ask people to come up with some questions in response to the original message that will determine whether the text is an authentic one. Some examples include asking for a name, date of birth or profession.
Gardai also recommend getting in touch with another family member to check out the unverified claims.
The grandparent scam is one of several worrying fraudster trends reported in recent months. The HSE previously had to deny they were sending texts to the public after fraudsters sent out messages warning recipients they were close contacts of a COVID-19 case.
The text was subsequently followed by a link which fraudsters claimed would redirect people hoping to buy antigen tests. The link led people on to a fake website that operated under the guise of being the HSE.
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