Clare gardaí’s phishing scam warning after ‘large sum’ taken from woman’s bank account

GARDAÍ in Clare have issued a warning about a ‘phishing’ scam after a large sum of money was taken from a bank account at the weekend.

“Phishing is when a fraudulent email or text tricks the receiver into sharing their personal, financial or security information,” explained Clare Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Triona Brooks.

On Saturday at 3.40pm a lady received a text purporting to be from her bank saying that her account had been used for an online transaction and if she believed that this was fraudulent to click on an attached link.

“The lady followed the link and provided all her banking details as she believed it was from her bank,” said Sergeant Brooks.

“The woman then received a call from a person from her bank and two authorisation codes were sent in a text to the lady and she gave these codes to the man.

“Unfortunately later that day she realised that a large sum of money had been taken from her account.”

She urged people to be wary for any possible phishing scams warning that emails may look identical to the type of correspondence that your banks sends.

“They replicate the logos and layout of real emails and ask you to download an attachment or document,” said Sergeant Brooks.

“Cyber criminals rely on the fact that people are busy – at a glance, these spoof emails appear to be legitimate.”

In the wake of this latest incident, she has issued advice to the public in a bid to protect from potential scams.

• Keep your software updated, including your browser, anti-virus and operating system.
• Be especially vigilant if a ‘bank’ email requests sensitive information from you like your password.
• Look at the email closely and compare the address with previous real messages from your bank. Check for bad spelling and grammar.
• Don’t reply to a suspicious email instead send it on to your bank by typing in the address yourself.
• Don’t click on a link or download an attachment. Never respond to a text message that requests your PIN or password.
• When in doubt double check on your bank’s website or give them a call.

“If you think you might have responded to a text or email and have provided your details, contact your bank immediately,” she concluded.

By Jessica Quinn