Kilkenny residents targetted by 20 new scam sites a day
Bank customers in Kilkenny and across the country are being targetted by up to 20 new fraudulent phishing sites every day.
The startling figure emerged from Bank of Ireland (BOI), who are warning of an ‘unprecedented spike’ in fraud sites, more than double the number found last month.
They also warned fraudsters are trying to extract up to five-times more money from people that they did last year.
The bank has urged people to be extra cautious about dealing with fraudulent text messages circulating this week.
Bank of Ireland has discovered the highest ever number of new ‘phishing’ sites recorded this week alone and also found a 184% increase in the number of customers targeted by fraudsters to date in 2021.
They note there has been a spike in ‘smishing’, where fraudsters send fake text messages, which appear to come from the bank and direct customers to fake websites imitating their websites.
Bank of Ireland Head of Group Fraud Edel McDermott said: “We are seeing an alarming increase in the level of fraudulent activity this year.
“May and June are showing a worrying upward trend in activity. To put this in context, versus the same time last year, we have seen an almost three-fold increase in the number of customers being targeted by fraudsters.
“The potential financial impact is even more stark, with fraudsters attempting to defraud close to five times more money than in the same period in 2020,” Ms McDermott added.
Bank of Ireland has urged customers to never click on links or to respond to SMS text messages, which are designed to appear as if sent by the bank and look like originating from a genuine phone number. The bank stressed it will never send a text with a link to a website that asks the customer for online banking login details or any one-time codes that we’ve sent to you.
They are asking customers who receive a suspicious text to email a screenshot of the text to 365Security@boi.com and then delete the text. They also ask customers who think they may have given away any of their banking details to call their 24/7 Freephone line 1800 946 764 immediately.
