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A leading bank has warned consumers of what it called an “unprecedented spike” in fraud.
ank of Ireland said that up to 20 new scam websites appear every day.
He said this week saw the highest number of new phishing sites on record.
Phishing refers to crooks using a scam website that appears to resemble the legitimate website. Thieves use the dubious website to try to trick individuals into unintentionally providing personal details or information which can then be used to steal them.
Bank of Ireland said there had been a 184% increase in the number of customers targeted by fraudsters so far this year.
There has also been a spike in smishing, where scammers send fake text messages, which appear to be from Bank of Ireland, and direct customers to fake websites mimicking Bank of Ireland websites.
The bank added: “Since last month, the number of new phishing websites detected by Bank of Ireland’s fraud prevention team has doubled, with an unprecedented increase in activity last week. and up to 20 new scam sites appearing per day. “
Ireland is the second most scammed country in Europe.
Research has shown that nearly € 8,000 is defrauded per 1,000 inhabitants.
The research was carried out by Uswitch.com, a UK-based comparison and switching service, using data collected from the European Central Bank and the UK Finance Fraud Report 2021.
The scam is now so prevalent as a growing and lucrative criminal phenomenon that Gardaà said that despite increased publicity around the activities of scammers, people continue to fall victim to scams on a daily basis.
“In recent days, gardaà has ​​received reports nationwide, including reports from Donegal, Monaghan, Dublin and Kilkenny counties regarding automated fraudulent phone calls,” a Garda spokesperson said.
Edel McDermott, Fraud Group Manager at Bank of Ireland, said: “We are seeing an alarming increase in the level of fraudulent activity this year.
“May and June show a worrying upward trend in activity.
“To put this into context, compared to the same time last year, we saw a threefold increase in the number of customers targeted by scammers.”
She said the potential financial impact is even more striking, with fraudsters attempting to defraud nearly five times as much money as during the same period in 2020.
“Our teams are working hard to respond to these spikes and intercept fraud attempts but unfortunately if customers click on links and provide personal bank details, recovery is not always possible.”
Bank of Ireland has warned consumers that they should not click on links or reply to SMS text messages, which are designed to appear as if they were sent by the bank and appear to come from a real phone number.
The bank said it would never send a text containing a link to a, It said. website that asks for online banking login information or any one-time code it has sent to customers