The public are being warned to "think before you click" as gardaí report a 370% increase in fraud phone calls, texts and emails last year, compared to 2020.
Gardaí said people should be wary of unsolicited phone calls, emails and texts as vishing (fraud phone calls), smishing (fraud texts) and phishing (fraud emails) are becoming increasingly prevalent, while overall fraud offences increased by 111% in 2021.
They warned that the most prevalent frauds purport to be from a person's bank, or other financial institution, where they are invited to click a link which leads to a cloned website, subsequently looking for the person's PIN.
Personal data such as address, date of birth, or PPS number, can also be requested as part of online scams to steal personal or financial information, gardaí said.
People are warned never give away personal data such as bank account details, PIN numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, one time codes, PPS numbers and eircodes.
Gardaí have said that victims of fraud need to change their passwords immediately and report the matter to their bank, as well as to An Garda Síochána.
They cited a case in May 2020, in which gardaí received a report following a fraudulent bank text alert scam that an injured party had €10,000 removed from their account.
The fraud was reported quickly and detectives working with the bank were able to reimburse the injured party.
An investigation under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 later identified a suspect bank account. Its holder was convicted before Trim Circuit Court in January 2022.
Gardaí urge anyone who has been a victim of this type of fraud to act quickly and change passwords, PIN codes, seek a recall from their bank and report the matter to gardaí.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said cyber began too increase dramatically with the onset of the pandemic.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he said a lot of people would have very good antivirus software on their laptops or PCs, but "they may not have it on phones and they may be a little bit more careless."
He said there has been a big increase in smishing text messages.
"Every one of us have got the text messages purporting to be from a bank or a service provider telling us that our account is X, Y or Z and encouraging us to click on to a link and when you take onto that link you're going on to a cloned website and that website will look identical to your bank's website."
From there, the fraudster will attempt to extract the person's personal data, including pins codes, passwords and bank account numbers, he said.
Det Supt Cryan said a bank will never ask the person to follow a link and input personal data
"If there's two pieces of advice that people can take away is do not click on links, and never ever give away personal data like that. Your bank will not be asking you for personal data," he said.
An Garda Síochána have noted a 111% increase in overall fraud offences for 2021. There has been a 370% increase in fraud related crimes of Vishing / Smishing / Phishing in 2021 compared to 2020. For information and advice on fraud offences see: https://t.co/chVpZukg4r pic.twitter.com/4jGDTNJw6p
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) February 4, 2022
An Garda Síochána's advice to the public is as follows:
Vishing - Calls
- Be wary of cold calls. Ask the caller their name, their phone number and if you are concerned, hang up and ring your bank/service provider from a number advertised in a phone book, on your bill or from a verified search engine.
- Just because the number looks Irish does not mean it is coming from the country.
- Never act on advice received or instructions from a cold caller, such as to download an app.
- Never give away personal data like your bank account details, PIN, credit card numbers, passwords, one time codes, PPS numbers or eircodes.
- Be aware that State bodies, including the Revenue Commissioners, will not ring you to advise that you are under investigation.
- Do not transfer money in any way.
- Before taking any action, seek advice from a trusted person.
Smishing - Texts
- Be wary of such texts, even if they are contained within the thread of previous genuine texts from banks.
- Never click on links; by doing so you may be accessing cloned websites.
- If you are expecting a delivery and receive such a text, be very careful.
- Banking institutions will never send a text containing a link.
- An Garda Síochána advise people not to respond to such texts, but to take screenshots of the texts received and delete them and report to the bank or relevant company and local garda station.
Phishing - Emails
- Do not open an email attachment until you are certain it is legitimate.
- Hover over any hyperlinks so you know where they lead to before you click (or go directly to the source).
- Beware of requests for personal or financial details or requests to reset passwords.
- Delete any suspicious emails, block the sender and do not forward the email to anyone else.
- Do not store passwords on your browser.
- Avoid using personal or untrusted removable devices (such as phones, tablets, iPods, SD Cards) on office systems.
- Beware of generic, impersonal greetings, such as "Dear Friend" or poor spelling and grammar.
- Check the displayed name against the actual email.
- Limit what you share online as cybercriminals can use information you post online to learn how to gain your trust.
- Stay updated with security policies and best practices.
