{"id":205297,"date":"2025-12-22T15:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T15:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/205297\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T15:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T15:38:10","slug":"bank-of-ireland-warns-customers-of-social-media-ads-impersonating-major-retailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/205297\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of Ireland warns customers of social media ads impersonating major retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"

As online shopping is at its peak during the holidays, fraudsters have been increasingly targeting consumers through scam social media ads.<\/p>\n

They often lure shoppers with fake offers and direct them to counterfeit websites designed to steal personal and financial information.<\/p>\n

Adverts, which are currently circulating online, offer deals and bargains while impersonating major retailers, such as Lidl or Tesco.<\/p>\n

Last year, Bank of Ireland\u2019s fraud prevention team received more than 10,000 calls from customers during the peak holiday period \u2013 from December 23 to 29 \u2013 with 550 calls on Christmas Day alone.<\/p>\n

Head of fraud at Bank of Ireland, Nicola Sandlier, said that \u201cChristmas should be a time of joy, not worry\u201d.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, fraudsters see this season as an opportunity to exploit consumers, and we\u2019re seeing many fake adverts currently which are impersonating well-known retailers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

“Our fraud team is working around the clock, even over the Christmas and New Year period, to support customers.<\/p>\n

“If something feels suspicious, trust your instincts and reach out to us straight away,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Examples provided by the Bank of Ireland include fake ads such as \u201c\u20ac119.99 online discount store\u201d on a treadmill, \u201ccombo of 4 drinks\u201d for \u00a329.40, or a laptop for \u20ac99.99.<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

Example of scam social media advertisement. Photo: Bank of Ireland<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

Example of scam social media advertisement. Photo: Bank of Ireland<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

Example of scam social media advertisement. Photo: Bank of Ireland<\/p>\n

Customers are advised to be cautious of social media ads that \u201clook too good to be true\u201d.<\/p>\n

They are asked to always verify they are shopping on the official website of a retailer, avoid clicking on links in unsolicited messages or posts, and go to the retailer\u2019s website for offers.<\/p>\n

The bank also advised customers to contact their fraud support team immediately on their freephone if they suspect fraud, with the team available 24\/7 throughout Christmas and New Year.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Lidl Ireland told the Irish Independent: “At Lidl, we take our responsibility with regards to reporting scams and communicating preventative measures to customers seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

“We proactively scan social media for fake scams impersonating Lidl regularly and report them immediately to the social media platforms and have them removed,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

“We also regularly run campaigns on our owned channels to warn consumers of potential scams.<\/p>\n

“In addition, we immediately investigate customer alerts to fake scams and fake websites identified by customers through our customer care team.<\/p>\n

“We urge customers to be vigilant and remind shoppers that the only way to get great value from Lidl Ireland is in our stores,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Tesco Ireland said: \u201cWe would advise consumers to only shop on our verified sites online (tesco.ie and tescomobile.ie)\u201d.<\/p>\n

“[We would advise] to only click through links that similarly come from our verified social media channels in relation to promotions and special offers,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As online shopping is at its peak during the holidays, fraudsters have been increasingly targeting consumers through scam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,898,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-205297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-latest-news-ticker","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}