Bank of Ireland warns about 'significant increase' in phone scams in April

Ellen O'Donoghue

Bank of Ireland has warned about a fresh wave of phone scams this month.

The new mobile phone text scams lure customers to call a fake bank phone line, with more than 20 fake Bank of Ireland phone lines being shut down by the bank in April.

The scam targets customers with a text message to their phone, requesting that they call a phone number about a transaction.

If the victim calls the number, they are eventually duped into providing their confidential bank details to the fraudster or transferring money into the fraudster’s .

Nicola Sadlier, head of fraud at Bank of Ireland, said the bank wanted to warn people about the “particular spike” in phone scams, with there being a significant increase so far in April compared to other months.

Customers have been warned to look out for text messages claiming to be from your bank, asking you to call a number to confirm financial or personal information.

The texts can drop into a thread of genuine texts, and often they claim that urgent action is needed or there will be negative consequences.

“If a customer needs to if any text message is legitimate, they can call their bank using the phone number on their bank card. Bank of Ireland customers can also use our TextChecker service,” Ms Sadlier said.

“If someone suspects they have been a victim of fraud, they should their bank immediately so that the bank can take action to stop a fraud in progress and try to recover funds.

“If we’re suspicious about possible fraud on your debit or credit card, we might text you and ask you to confirm if you made a transaction, but all you have to do is reply YES or NO.”

To use TextChecker, a customer can copy the text they wish to , paste it into a new message, add the word CHECK before the text, but in the same message, and send it to 50365.

Bank of Ireland will then reply to let you know whether or not it is a genuine text.

Bank of Ireland customers can call the bank’s fraud team 24/7 on the freephone line 1800 946 764.