Here in Irish Country Living, we’ve been hearing about quite a few scams doing the rounds.
There is the courier text scam, asking for a small amount - usually €1 - to complete the delivery of your package and given the confusion over Brexit and deliveries, many assume its legit.
There is also a Whatsapp scam doing the rounds as well, with scammers contacting people pretending that they have been registered to get vaccinated so they know when they are out of the house.
We’ve covered it in more detail here.
If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you may feel like frustrated that the scammer ‘caught you out’, but they are very clever and you aren’t alone.
Research
New research from AIB has revealed that four in five people in Ireland have been targeted by fraudsters within the last year, having received either a text, call or email they believed to be fraudulent.
The research also reveals that those over the age of 55 were more likely to be targeted by fraudsters, with 85% of this age group reporting that they have received some form of fraudulent communication within the last year.
However, customers across all age categories are still being targeted by fraudsters, with 80% of those between the ages of 18 and 34 reporting that they have received a fraudulent communication in the past year.
Fraud losses
In fact, last year, fraud losses on Irish consumers’ credit and debit cards amounted to €22m.
It's not surprising, given many people are shopping online much more due to COVID restrictions and fraudsters are trying to cash in on the situation.
Encouragingly though, head of digital engagement at AIB Sean Jevens says: “Our research shows that there is a high level of awareness among people in Ireland regarding fraud, with 98% of people saying they have ignored or reported a fraudulent text, call or email when they receive one.
"However, as fraudsters are using sophisticated new ways to scam customers and steal their money, some people are still falling for fraud and customers still need to be vigilant."
Their advice to try and avoid being scammed is:
Do not click any links that may appear to come from their bank.Hang up on any calls you don’t think are genuine.Only ring back a number after checking it aligns with the number on the organisation’s website.Customers should never share their passwords, login details or one-time pass codes with anyone, even their bank.
Here in Irish Country Living, we’ve been hearing about quite a few scams doing the rounds.
There is the courier text scam, asking for a small amount - usually €1 - to complete the delivery of your package and given the confusion over Brexit and deliveries, many assume its legit.
There is also a Whatsapp scam doing the rounds as well, with scammers contacting people pretending that they have been registered to get vaccinated so they know when they are out of the house.
We’ve covered it in more detail here.
If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you may feel like frustrated that the scammer ‘caught you out’, but they are very clever and you aren’t alone.
Research
New research from AIB has revealed that four in five people in Ireland have been targeted by fraudsters within the last year, having received either a text, call or email they believed to be fraudulent.
The research also reveals that those over the age of 55 were more likely to be targeted by fraudsters, with 85% of this age group reporting that they have received some form of fraudulent communication within the last year.
However, customers across all age categories are still being targeted by fraudsters, with 80% of those between the ages of 18 and 34 reporting that they have received a fraudulent communication in the past year.
Fraud losses
In fact, last year, fraud losses on Irish consumers’ credit and debit cards amounted to €22m.
It's not surprising, given many people are shopping online much more due to COVID restrictions and fraudsters are trying to cash in on the situation.
Encouragingly though, head of digital engagement at AIB Sean Jevens says: “Our research shows that there is a high level of awareness among people in Ireland regarding fraud, with 98% of people saying they have ignored or reported a fraudulent text, call or email when they receive one.
"However, as fraudsters are using sophisticated new ways to scam customers and steal their money, some people are still falling for fraud and customers still need to be vigilant."
Their advice to try and avoid being scammed is:
Do not click any links that may appear to come from their bank.Hang up on any calls you don’t think are genuine.Only ring back a number after checking it aligns with the number on the organisation’s website.Customers should never share their passwords, login details or one-time pass codes with anyone, even their bank. 
This is a subscriber-only article
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