The new year has brought with it a rise in scam calls and text messages.
Gardai are issuing a warning after there was a 61% rise in these bogus contacts in the first ten days of 2022.
One of the more common scams reported is smishing or vishing. This is when people get a text purporting to be from an individual's bank. An attached message then brings the recipient to a cloned website where a PIN request appears. If someone enters a PIN at this point, the fraudsters can access the customer's bank account, and transfer money to another account.
Gardai are reminding people never to click on links in these circumstances - your bank will never contact you in this way. Some of these scams will even appear in a thread where you've previous texts from your bank.
You're also reminded never to give away personal data like one time codes, PINs or passwords. If you have been a victim of this type of fraud, it's vital you change your PIN and passcode immediately and report the matter to your bank, and to the Gardai.
Scam calls or texts
During the Covid 19 Pandemic, there has been a huge increase in people receiving scam calls or texts. Comreg describes these as "unwanted, unsolicited nuisance communications generally directed at large groups of the population. Scam calls and scam texts often have the intention of misleading the receiver, so that the receivers of the calls unknowingly provide sensitive information or funds to the scammer."
More here on what to do if you receive such calls or texts.
