Gardaí warn over ‘very high levels’ of text message fraud in run-up to Christmas

Gardaí have said numerous banks and financial institutions are reporting “very high levels” of text message fraud in the run-up to Christmas.

In the latest “smishing” scam described by gardaí as “very convincing”, fraudsters are issuing phone numbers for customers to ring in order to resolve an alleged issue with the customer’s account.

“When an agent answers the phone, they scam customers into divulging their banking and security credentials,” gardaí said.

Officers from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) advised bank customers to be extra vigilant. While the fraudulent text messages “can often appear within a previous, genuine thread”, the phone numbers provided are not genuine, gardaí said.

Customers who responded to a text message that they believe is fraudulent are advised to contact their bank as soon as possible.

There are numerous smishing scams in operation pretending to be from banks, delivery companies and couriers, utility…