‘Don’t let guard down’ warning amid rise in vishing phone scams targeting bank accounts as victim hit by €41k payment

PHONE call fraud has increased by almost 80 per cent during the first two months of the year.

AIB today issued an urgent alert about the explosion in scams.

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The bank revealed it recorded a 79 per cent increase in vishing fraud in the first two months of this year, compared to the same time last year.

Vishing, or voice phishing, involves fraudulent phone calls or voice messages designed to trick victims into providing sensitive information, including login credentials, credit card numbers and bank details.

AIB told how fraudsters have been targeting both personal and business customers in Ireland, with the scammers often posing as representatives of reputable companies and financial institutions.

Common tricks used on vishing phone calls include offering a refund, claiming to stop a payment that is fraudulent, or even advising that they are going to fix an issue with the target’s broadband.

Fraudsters often ask their victims to download software onto their device or to visit a “secure” website.

But by following the caller’s instructions, unsuspecting consumers are allowing crooks to take control of their device.

And by providing codes, people are allowing them to access their accounts and take money from them.

AIB’s Head of Financial Crime, Mary McHale, told how fraudsters are deploying an array of sneaky tactics to steal people’s money.

McHale warned: “Fraudsters will use any means to steal your money.

“They will pose as legitimate companies or bank staff to trick you into downloading software and providing personal and financial information.

“They may even mimic a company’s genuine phone number.”

Bank bosses are urging punters to be “vigilant” amid the dramatic uptick in vishing.

McHale said: “We urge people not to let their guard down.

“Take a moment and ask yourself, could this be a scam? End the call immediately and verify its legitimacy on a known and trusted phone number.”

VICTIM HIT WITH €41K FALSE PAYMENT SCAM

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ON February 17, the customer’s business received a call to its landline.

The caller who introduced himself as ‘Gavin’ from AIB’s fraud team, told the customer that there were two payments due to leave their account.

To make the story seem legitimate, ‘Gavin’ provided amounts and reference numbers for these payments.

When our customer told him she had not made these payments, ‘Gavin’ advised her with a sense of urgency that he would be able to get them cancelled but would need to take our customer to a secure webchat facility.

He advised them that this was for their security and swift action was required.

Our customer was told to open the browser on her PC and type in a web address.

In the moment and out of panic that fraud was occurring on her account, our customer followed Gavin’s instructions and visited a fake AIB website.

What she didn’t realise was that this site contained software that allowed ‘Gavin’ to access her PC.

Unknowingly our customer also provided security codes to the caller which allowed a payment of €41,000 to be made.

Gavin then called AIB’s Customer Engagement Centre posing as our customer requesting the payment be processed without delay.

The AIB staff member immediately knew something was wrong, ended the call and contacted our genuine customer.

While this was a good outcome for our customer, this is not always the case.

She added: “Where customers have been scammed, we will deal sympathetically with them on a case-by-case basis.

“At AIB, we have a strong record in protecting our customers from fraud and we are continuously investing to enhance our fraud monitoring systems in response to new and existing fraud trends, and to educate our customers via online messaging, emails, and targeted social media alerts.

“Our fraud helpline is open 24/7, seven days a week to support our customers when they need us.

“We also work closely with industry stakeholders including telecommunications companies, the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI), and the Gardaí to detect and report fraud trends, as it’s only by communicating and coordinating across the whole of society that together we can be effective in combating these criminals.”