As a working actor, Gráinne Blumenthal is used to answering phone numbers she does not recognise. But last month, she got an unusual call.
"I just answered it, not thinking anything of it," she said. "It was a robotic voice on the other end saying they were going to cancel my PPS number and that I was connected to some criminal activity."
She "realised really quickly" it was a scam and hung up.
But Gráinne has been receiving regular phone calls like that ever since. "Sometimes, I get them up to three times a day. It's just been a constant thing going on and it is getting very annoying."
The Communications Regulator ComReg has said that it is aware of the recent upsurge calls using a fake caller ID in order to get people to answer their phones.
It stated that patterns in telecoms traffic from overseas indicates that the level of such calls has increased significantly in recent weeks and can lead to people becoming victims of fraud.
Gardaí have warned of scams recently where people pretend to be from An Garda Síochána, Social Welfare, the Attorney General's Office, banks, delivery companies and other businesses.
While scammers may change their stories or methods, their goal is always the same – to access people's sensitive information and get their hands on your money.
Jeremy Godfrey, Commissioner for ComReg, said the scammers disguise their calls as if they were coming from legitimate Irish mobile calls.
He said the regulator has seen surges of calls coming from certain countries and can be "pretty sure" that a good proportion of that surge is actually scam traffic.
Data Privacy Consultant Daragh O'Briain, MD of Castlebridge, said that if people have any doubts that a call is genuine, they should hang up and ring the organisation back.
Do not ring the number that phoned you, he advised, but go to the website of the organisation and find its number there.
Ring the group directly, explain what happened and ask them to verify whether the call was genuine.
In a statement, Ibec's Telecommunications Industry Ireland group said its members take the security of their customers very seriously.
It said the industry works with gardaí, the National Cyber Security Centre, and other bodies to address malicious cyber activity and scams.
The statement said: "If any customer receives suspicious messages or calls via phone or email or social media, we urge them not to respond or give any information.
"Report the incident immediately to their telecommunications provider, and, if appropriate, to An Garda Síochána.
"All mobile service providers have relevant customer information on their respective websites which customers can consult."
