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 providers and government agencies.

An Garda Síochána said people should always be wary of texts from unknown senders and unusual requests that can even appear in the thread of previous genuine texts.

The force has devised guidelines for customers to avoid smishing. It strongly warned against clicking on links in a text, ringing a number contained in a text, giving away personal data such as bank details, PIN numbers, passwords, one time codes, PPS number or Eircode.

Demands for money transfers, scammers posing as children of clients requesting money, and cold calls should all be ignored.

Customers should always seek to identify the caller by their name or phone number. If they have any concerns they should hang up and ring their bank or service provider using the number on their statement.

An Garda Síochána also advised against downloading any apps that give fraudsters control of their device.

Any suspected incidents of fraud should be directly reported to gardaí, they said.