Cyber-criminals are leveraging the technical problems Ulster Bank has been dealing with these past two weeks by sending customers emails that try to obtain their banking details.
“Email scams that are taking place at the moment have some customers that are being targeted by fraudsters following this calamity,” The Irish Examiner reported CMC senior markets strategist Brenda Kelly as saying.
“So you’re getting these phishing emails claiming to be security upgrades and asking people for account details, and then of course you have some people who are pretty much taking advantage of the situation where there haven’t been any problems with their (the customer’s) account but they (the fraudsters) are saying that there are.”
Ulster Bank said yesterday most of its customers can expect to see service levels back to normal the week beginning 16 July, after a corrupted software upgrade the night of 19 June caused a backlog in the processing of payments, and thus disrupted salary transfers, direct debits and social welfare payments.
Compensation for Ulster Bank customers
Ulster Bank has also said customers will be compensated for the disruption, as will non-Ulster bank account holders who were also inconvenienced by the backlog.
Ulster Bank’s management is due to appear before the Oireachtas Finance Committee today to answer questions about the debacle.
Meanwhile, about 50 of Ulster Bank’s branches continue to be open across Ireland from 9.30 am to 7pm this week, and customers are advised to bring photographic identification, their account details and payslips with them when calling into a branch.
The bank’s help desk is also open, from 8am to 10pm, at 1800 205 100. If you are calling from abroad, please dial +353 9156 2910.
Ulster Bank image by Brendan Howard/Shutterstock.com via Shutterstock
