Irish consumers lost €2m euro in online shopping fraud last year.
This is when the buyer doesn’t receive the goods after making payments, receives fake or counterfeit goods, or items not as described.
Gardaí say up to 10 million online transactions were carried out over the Christmas shopping period.
Detective Inspector Mel Smyth says people should never purchase items that they have found through social media.
"The most important product for a fraudster is data - and that data is your name, your address, your date of birth, your credit card number and your PIN number.
"Once they get that data, and get in to your credit card or your bank account, they will very very quickly use that card to make purchases online."
