An Garda Síochána is asking members of the public to be wary of unsolicited phone calls, emails and texts and not to click on any links.
Vishing (fraud phone calls), Smishing (fraud texts) and Phishing (fraud emails) may not be overly familiar terms but An Garda Síochána wish to highlight the increased prevalence of these specific fraud related crimes, which have seen an increase of 370% in 2021, compared to 2020. While overall fraud offences have increased by 111% for 2021.
The most prevalent frauds are purporting to be from your bank, or other financial institution, where you are invited to click a link which brings you to a cloned website, subsequently looking for your PIN. They may also seek other personal data such as address, date of birth, PPS numbers etc. These are just a few of the online scams cybercriminals use to steal your private data (personal or financial information).
An Garda Síochána is warning the public to never give away personal data such as bank account details, PIN numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, one time codes, PPS numbers and Eircodes. If you’ve been a victim of fraud, it’s vital that you change your passwords immediately and report the matter to your bank as well as to An Garda Síochána.
Case Study: In May 2020 Gardaí in Killarney received a report following a fraudulent Bank Text Alert Scam that an injured party had €10,000 removed from their account. The fraud was reported quickly…
