A recent Banking Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) report showed that over 70% of Irish people are being hit with scam calls, texts and emails, and that these have almost doubled over the past 12 months.
Irish mobile operators say they are trying to address the issue but have not yet, been success.
As the festive season approaches farming families are being urged by the Irish Farmers Journal to be extra vigilant of fraudsters.
Some ways that fraudsters are scamming the public include interceding payments with online shopping or making hoax mobile calls pretending to be from Government departments, financial institutions or the revenue, with the ultimate aim to defraud you, and get access to your personal or financial information and passwords.
Money Mentor, Margaret Nolan says these are examples of some of the scams currently circulating:
- A call where assistance is being offered to claim a tax rebate.
- A call from a utility company (such as mobile provider or broadband provider), or a software company offering to “fix” your computer/laptop.
- A call from a financial provider stating you have unauthorised transactions on your card or account.
- A text or email asking for a small amount of money to “release” your package from customs, before it can be delivered.
- A call from the Revenue or the Department of Social Protection telling you that you owe money, for whatever reason.
Here is what Margaret suggests doing to protect yourself from scams:
- Be very wary of unsolicited phone calls or voicemails.
- In all cases, if you suspect a call is fraudulent, hang up and report the call to your own provider of the service, and your local garda station.
- Block the number on your mobile.
- If, by any chance you feel you have engaged with the fraudster, unintentionally, be sure to alert your service provider immediately, in particular if you feel it may compromise your financial or personal information.
- Never divulge private information unless you are certain who you are speaking to, such as:
- Your name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Family details
- PPSNs
- Bank account numbers
- PIN numbers
- Passwords
