Gardai have issued a warning to the public of a new ‘smishing’ text scam, which has seen a 61% rise in cases for the first 10 days of 2022.
Smishing, also known as ‘vishing’, is a scam which sees the attacker text a link to the recipient, which will lead them to a cloned site. This will then allow the attacker to send the victim’s private information, or download malicious programs to their smartphones.
Gardaí have warned the public about this new scam, with attackers usually posing as a bank or supermarket — despite people having received legitimate texts from the same number they may be targeted with.
Gardaí have issued the below advice following a 61% increase in smishing/vishing offences in the first 10 days of 2022, compared to last year.
Pictured are examples of two text messages received from a member of the public purporting to be from Permanent TSB. pic.twitter.com/1y2r4wYnE0
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) January 17, 2022
Gardaí have issued a serious warning to the public on their official Twitter page, alongside two examples of the new scam — a text that appears to come from the bank Permanent TSB.
The advice included in the tweet from Gardaí includes: be wary of texts (even if the message thread includes previous genuine texts from your bank), never click on links — in doing so you’re accessing a cloned website, and never give away personal information such as PINs and passwords.
The tweet also said that if you are a victim of…
