Bank of Ireland warns of spike in scam targeting customers

Michael Bolton

Bank of Ireland is issuing a warning to the public following a dramatic spike in a sophisticated ‘safe account’ scam.

Fraudsters are targeting customers with convincing fake texts and phone calls, tricking them into transferring their money to bogus ‘safe accounts’, in many cases via Revolut.

The Bank has seen a tenfold increase in reports of this scam in just 24 hours, compared to weekly levels earlier this year.

Customers have been receiving text messages requesting that they call a phone number about a suspicious transaction or activity.

The message claims to be from Bank of Ireland, and the message will sound like a genuine Bank of Ireland text, with messages often saying "Do you recognise this transaction?”; or “A transaction for [value] to [merchant] was declined and your card has been placed on hold“ - followed by “if this was not you / if you don’t recognise this / etc. please call us back on [callback phone number].

The callback number will be answered by someone claiming to be from Bank of Ireland, and there has been suspicious transactions and the customer’s account is compromised.

The person will then be asked if they have a Revlout or other secondary account. If they say yes, they will be told to move their money in their Bank of Ireland account into their own Revolut account/ or secondary account.

The victim is then told they then need to move their money from their Revolut account to a new ‘safe’ account.

Callback numbers are usually landline numbers including 01 / 1800 / regional codes.