Phone scammers targeting stressed out Irish shoppers with new scam during Christmas rush

It's that time of year when the debit or credit card can get a serious workout - and money seems to be flying out of accounts in all directions.

This makes it a prime time for scammers to target people via their smartphones, hoping to catch them off guard or too stressed to perform basic checks and protect their bank details.

A series of new and highly sophisticated scams have been reported on social media, including random calls from countries like Belgium and Slovakia, reports Cork Beo.

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When these calls are answered, the lines either go dead or play recorded messages, likely generated by an artificial intelligence voice generator capable of mimicking a convincing Irish accent.

The scammers also replicate snippets of 'real' voice messages from Irish banks and other institutions to make their scams more believable. Some scam messages can even personalise your name and number.

It's believed that criminal gangs have been sharing or selling information obtained from over 110,000 Irish individuals during the notorious cyberattack on the HSE in 2021. During this attack, a criminal gang stole patient details, phone numbers, names and more, crippling the HSE's IT system. HSE employees were hit hardest, with hackers obtaining the banking details of approximately 1,000 current and former staff.

In one instance, which has been widely shared on social media by concerned individuals, a text message is sent to a phone detailing specific transactions from what appears to be a bank, including from PTSB and AIB. The message provides a 1800 number to call - which seems legitimate as it's not some random number in Belgium or another unlikely location for an Irish bank's call centre.

The fraudsters are pretending to be your bank, claiming there has been 'suspicious' activity and asking for your passcodes so they can run a check. You should never do this - never share passwords, codes or any personal details over the phone with someone who has contacted you.

If these details are handed over, criminals can drain bank accounts within minutes. The Irish communications watchdog COMREG has a comprehensive list of precautions to take when dealing with phone scammers.

However, this Christmas time - when we're all busy or stressed out - it's best to follow one golden rule: treat everything as suspicious and never, ever, give your bank details, passwords or codes to anyone over the phone.

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