Bank of Ireland customers are being warned of a new ‘smishing’ scam going around to get people’s bank card details.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and BoI are cautioning people never to give away
The scam involves people getting texts which appear to have come from the bank, telling them that their card has been compromised.
“The details of this fraudulent message is inserted into a message thread previously issued by the bank, therefore appearing to be a legitimate warning,” a garda spokesperson said.
“The fraudulent text states that the customer’s card has been skimmed and subsequently deactivated by the bank.”
“The person is then asked to follow a link to a false Bank of Ireland website in order to follow steps to obtain a new bank card.”
The scammers ask people to cut their card up in a certain way and post it to a specified address.
They then ask the customer to go to a fake website where they are asked to submit their PIN, phone number, and card number in order to get a new card.
With these details and with the remains of the bank card, the scammers can then access the customer’s account, make withdrawals and make online purchases.
The GNECB has given the following advice to protect your personal information from scammers.
- Never click on a link in an unsolicited text
- Never give away personal data like your PIN, card numbers and passwords
- A financial institution would never request a customer to return a card to the bank in such circumstances
“An Garda Síochána are advising all people not to respond to such text messages, but instead to take a screenshot of the message, delete it and report it to your local Garda station.”
