Bank of Ireland has warned again today that fraudsters are still circulating a high volume of fraudulent "eFlow" text messages.
Fraudsters pretending to be the motorway operator eFlow are sending messages urging customers to pay outstanding toll charges or update account details.
The website links in these messages are not genuine and are an attempt to collect personal card and online banking details.
Consumers are reporting a consistently high volume of these text messages, and Bank of Ireland is warning customers to be extremely wary.
The bank said that up to 10 fake eFlow sites are being set up in a day.
Bank of Ireland also said today that it is expecting an increase in fraudulent text messages cloning more Irish brands over the coming months.
Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud at Bank of Ireland, said that smishing attacks tend to come in waves, and previously we have seen fraudulent messages appearing to be from delivery services, utility companies, government agencies or banks.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"But this latest attack, with fraudsters sending messages purporting to come from eFlow, has lasted now for several months, which is unusual," she said.
"Based on intelligence we have received, we are also expecting fraudsters to ramp up activity cloning other well-known Irish brands in the coming months, particularly electricity and gas companies," she added.
She said that if people recently passed through a toll, they might be more inclined to click on the text message thinking it is legitimate.
EFlow have said they do not send text messages with links to confirm account or payment details.
"Text messages purporting to be from any company should be treated with extreme caution – the general rule is to stop, think and check," Bank of Ireland said.
