Three types of fraud related crimes increased by 370% in Ireland over a one year period amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
With thousands working from home, opportunists have utilised the lower security status of staff that have not been in the office, and many people have fallen victim to date.
The vast array of scam types makes it incredibly difficult for some to spot the warning signs, so An Garda Siochana has today issued an updated list of things to look out for.
According to officers, Vishing (fraud phone calls), Smishing (fraud texts) and Phishing (fraud emails) saw the biggest increase in 2021, compared to 2020.
An Garda Síochána is asking members of the public to be extremely wary of unsolicited phone calls, emails and texts and not to click on any links.
(Image: DPA/PA Images)
The most prevalent fraudsters are purporting to be from your bank, or other financial institutions, where you are invited to click a link which brings you to a cloned website, where they look for your PIN.
They may also ask for other personal data such as your address, date of birth, PPS number etc.
In one extremely unfortunate case in May 2020, gardaí in Killarney received a report following a fraudulent Bank Text Alert Scam that saw scammers remove €10,000 from the victim’s account.
The fraud was reported quickly and so officers working with the Bank were able to reimburse the…
