An Garda Síochána in conjunction with Bank of Ireland wish to alert the public to a ‘smishing’ scam whereby persons are being contacted by a text message, which appears to have come their bank, leading them to believe their bank card has been compromised.
The details of this smishing scam are outlined on the An Garda Síochána Facebook page.
A number of reports have been received by Gardaí in relation to this scam. The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) conducted searches today Wednesday, 17th June 2020 at addresses in Dublin in relation to this matter.
A number of bank cards were recovered during the course of these searches, and returned to their owners. A male youth was arrested and is currently detained in Tallaght Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
GNECB are advising the public as follows:
• Never click a link in an unsolicited text
• Never give away personal data like your PIN, card numbers and passwords
• A financial institution would never request a customer to return a card to the bank in such circumstances
An Garda Síochána are also urging all persons not to respond to such text messages, but instead to take a screenshot of the message, delete it and report to your local Garda station.
