Gardaí in Cork are renewing their appeal for people to be extra vigilant about phishing scams.
Attempts to obtain banking and payment information have become more sophisticated in recent years, with scammers using partial information to trick people into believing they are genuine.
The scams can leave people out of pocket to the tune of thousands and can be as simple as calling a random number or as complex as directing someone to a link that mimics their banks website.
Crime Prevention Officer for Cork City Sgt Brian McSweeney says someone in the city was defrauded out of €5,000 this week due to a scam and is asking people to think before they engage with any requests to send money to a seemingly legitimate business.
He told RedFM News that people are giving away their heard earned money too easily due to how simply is it to transfer money now.
"You're gong to get text messages, and the common ones are from courier companies, everyone has gotten one at this stage I'd imagine, from our own reputable An Post, currently we have text messages from E-Flow pretending you owe money to them.
"These are fantastic companies and they don't operate like this. An Post doesn't, or E-Flow, companies don't engage with people in this fashion, they don't want you clicking on links.
"If you get a cold call from a bank, hang up and reconnected back to them through the legitimate source."
