Text scams cost Irish victims an average of €1,700 this year

10 Aug 2022

Image: © terovesalainen/Stock.adobe.com

Consumers and businesses have been urged to be on alert for smishing scams, as fraudsters are expected to take advantage of Ulster Bank and KBC exiting the Irish market.

Text message scams have almost doubled in the first half of this year with individuals and businesses tricked out of thousands of euros, according to new figures.

Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said victims of text message scams, or ‘smishing’ attacks, were tricked out of an average of €1,700 during the first half of this year.

Businesses, meanwhile, suffered average losses of €14,000 due to invoice fraud.

Niamh Davenport, lead of BPFI’s FraudSmart awareness initiative, said more than 100 invoice frauds were reported this year, with the costs rising to €50,000 in some cases.

The BPFI initiative is urging consumers and businesses to be on high alert for impersonation scams in the coming months as two major banks, Ulster Bank and KBC, are exiting the Irish market.

With more than a million people and 70,000 businesses looking for a new place to bank, it is expected that criminals will seek to take advantage of the situation.

Bank of Ireland issued a similar fraud risk warning in May, urging the public to expect an increase in scam calls, texts and emails from fraudsters over the coming months.

Davenport said cybercriminals are “are experts at taking advantage of changing situations to commit fraud” and it is anticipated that a surge in impersonation fraud will be based around the process of verifying and updating bank account details.

“We are warning consumers to be on the lookout for text messages that flag fraud on your bank account or impending cancelation of your salary, standing orders or direct debits to utilities and which then go on to ask for personal information or account details,” Davenport said.

Text scams and other phishing campaigns encourage victims to respond on impulse, but there are steps that can be taken to protect yourself.

FraudSmart urged consumers not to respond to messages with personal information and not to click on links or follow directions from a call without verifying the source first.

Businesses, meanwhile, have been urged to verify banking changes by contacting a known contact in the company directly or a contact number on the company’s website. Firms should also keep an eye out for slight changes in email addresses, as this could be an impersonation attempt.

10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.

Leigh Mc Gowran is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com