The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman is warning consumers to be vigilant following reports of a scam in recent days.
The FSPO has been informed that phone calls have been made, from what appears like a Dublin-based landline, by an individual, or individuals, who claim to be calling from the "Financial Ombudsman".
The person making the calls claims that they are arranging refunds of €3,000 for consumers from their bank and claim that the refunds are as a result of "bank overcharging".
The FSPO has said this is a scam and the individual has no connection whatsoever with the FSPO.
Ger Deering, Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, said anyone who received a call of this nature should not engage with the call and should report the activity to their local Garda station.
"Scams are unfortunately a regular occurrence and attempts by these fraudsters to connect themselves to my office could lead some consumers to believe that this is genuine. Consumers may be aware that I can direct a financial service provider to pay compensation to a consumer following the investigation of a complaint. However, in such circumstances, compensation is paid by the provider in question directly to the consumer and not through the FSPO," he said.
Mr. Deering added, "I am grateful to the individuals who contacted us in recent days concerning this fraud. Early warnings are important in disrupting scams. We have published a warning on our website and we are raising awareness about this activity. We will continue to keep our website updated."
