Bank of Ireland has warned about an escalating wave of fraudulent text messages, with fraudsters pretending to be a motorway operator and sending messages urging customers to pay outstanding toll charges or update account details.
The bank said it is seeing a large increase in motorway-themed smishing.
It is warning customers to be particularly wary with more commuters hitting the roads this Easter weekend.
It said the website links in these messages are not genuine and are an attempt to collect personal card and online banking details.
Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud at Bank of Ireland, said that smishing attacks tend to come in waves.
The latest theme is motorway fraud, where fraudsters are sending fake text purportedly from operators such as eFlow, she added.
"When you click on the text it leads to a fake website where some will end up providing their confidential card and bank account details," she said.
"As more people will be hitting the roads this Easter weekend, they might be more inclined to click on such a text message thinking it is legitimate," she added.
"In the past we have seen similar waves of fraudulent messages appearing to be from delivery services, Government agencies or banks and now it seems that motorway smishing is trending," she said.
"Text messages should be treated with extreme caution - the general rule is never trust, always verify," she advised.
Bank of Ireland has advised its customers not to click on links or respond to SMS text messages which appear as if sent by a motorway toll operator looking for payment for an unpaid toll.
It also reminded customers that banks, delivery companies, utility providers and Government agencies will never send a text linking to a website that requests online banking details.
eFlow has also advised anyone who receives a text message regarding unpaid tolls to ignore the message and not to open any links.
Bank of Ireland said that if people do get a suspicious text, they should email a screenshot of the text to 365Security@boi.com and then delete the text,
It also said that customers who think they gave away their banking details should call its 24/7 Freephone line - 1800 946764 - immediately.
