An Irish man has warned others after his bank account was hacked and his life savings were drained.
Taking to Twitter to urge others to be vigilant of the sophisticated scam, he said: “WARNING: My AIB account was hacked and my life savings absolutely raided. I never thought I could possibly be a victim of fraud but these guys were absolute experts
“Apparently I got a text at the weekend. It was on the same thread as all previous AIB texts and don’t even remember seeing or opening it. Definitely didn’t fill anything out or give any details. Screenshot of Text below:
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“Then got a call yesterday saying it was AIB and there was unusually activity on my account and they listed a number of transactions that weren’t made by me.
“The person on the phone (from a Dublin landline number) had all my details, listed my recent transactions which were correct and didn’t ask for any pins or passwords. They said they would block the transactions and cancel my card and online account and set up a new on
“Confirmed all the details they gave me. Then they just asked me to put my card and pin in the AIB card reader and read the code to confirm I was the card holder and wanted to cancel it”
The man was then told that the new card and its details would be sent to him in the post.
He said: “They said the new card and details would be in the post and I said thanks a million…then today I got a call from AIB about another unusual transaction
“I told them they had called about other ones yesterday. They asked what the person said to me and then told me that in fact that person was the hacker and they had since made much larger transfers using the card reader code number
“Real AIB security person told me they had blocked the most recent one but others had gone through and I should call into an AIB branch ASAP. ”
The man said he then left work early to go to the bank before things just got “worse and worse and worse”.
He said: “Left work early to go to the bank thinking they had made a transfer after the call yesterday. They say me down and put me on the phone with their Fraud Department and it just got worse and worse and worse
“Hackers had been in my account since Saturday moving all the money from my life savings account to my current account and credit account and had transferred it a massive chunk of out from there to someone and to a load of Google and Apple payment accounts
“Got new details and was able to log back into my account. Just sat there staring at my life savings account which had been absolutely drained
“Fraud Department wanted to go through and check the transfers from my credit account but I told them I had never once used my credit account so every transaction from it was definitely by the hackers!
“They said I should get it back but it was a substantial amount that was taken so they would need to go over everything and I would get a letter in the post and would heard from them if the reimbursement was declined
“Then went to the nearest Garda Station to report it there. They told me I would be better off going to a station nearer to where I lived as it would take ages passing the complaint up the line and then on to whatever counts as my local station.
“Went home. Sat down on the couch. Looked at my account again. Called the family. Fighting back the tears”.
If you think you may have been a victim of fraud contact your bank and local garda station immediately.
The garda website states: “Never transfer money to an unknown source. Where this has occurred, report it in the first instance to your local Garda station.
“Never send money to unknown people as a result of an unsolicited email.
“If you think that you have been a victim of fraud and your bank account has been used or compromised in any way you should report the matter immediately to your bank or financial institution to minimise any financial loss to you.
“Likewise, if you believe your social media account or other forms of communication have been compromised you should report the matter to the appropriate company to ensure that any evidence is retained and that no further harm can be done.”
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