{"id":483377,"date":"2026-06-04T21:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/483377\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T21:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:44:10","slug":"bank-of-ireland-has-warned-customers-of-spike-in-text-scams-heres-what-to-look-out-for-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/483377\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of Ireland has warned customers of spike in text scams. Here\u2019s what to look out for \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bank of Ireland<\/a> has reported a recent spike in impersonation scams and warned people to be suspicious of text messages alerting them to declined transactions or issues with their accounts. <\/p>\n

It said reports of fraudulent texts referencing suspicious or declined transactions and asking customers to call fraudulent phone lines increased significantly in May, with the pattern continuing in recent days. <\/p>\n

The bank said such scams start with the potential victims receiving a text message that appears to come from a trusted source, such as Bank of Ireland. <\/p>\n

The message typically references a suspicious or declined transaction and pressures the recipient to respond quickly, often by asking them to call a phone number included in the message. <\/p>\n

When they call, they are connected to someone posing as a member of the bank\u2019s fraud team. <\/p>\n

Bank of Ireland said the fraudsters can sound calm, professional and helpful while quickly creating urgency in order to convince the customer to make a payment or give away banking details.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, customers are told their money is at risk and must be moved immediately to a \u201csafe account\u201d. <\/p>\n

In reality, the \u201csafe account\u201d is controlled by the fraudster and the money is lost.<\/p>\n

In some cases, scam texts can even appear under trusted contact names stored in a customer\u2019s phone, making them even harder to spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people believe this is something that would never happen to them but these scams are carefully designed to feel real, and anyone can be targeted,\u201d said Bank of Ireland\u2019s head of fraud Nicola Sadlier. <\/p>\n

\u201cFraudsters use familiar brands and everyday transactions, and create a sense of urgency to respond. They know how to create convincing conversations that feel legitimate and how to apply just enough pressure and pace to stop people hesitating in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadlier said the \u201cmost effective defence is a \u2018zero trust\u2019 approach\u201d and she called on people to always \u201cpause and question any unexpected contact, even if it appears to come from your bank. Never rely on phone numbers or links provided in messages. Call your bank directly using a trusted number from its official website or the back of your card.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bank included a case study of a man who was contacted and asked if he recognised a transaction for \u20ac130 to a well-known company, instructing him to reply \u2018No\u2019 if he did not. <\/p>\n

Concerned, the customer replied immediately. <\/p>\n

Within minutes, he received a follow-up message urging him to call \u2018Bank of Ireland\u2019 using the number provided.<\/p>\n

He dialled the number and was convinced he had reached the bank\u2019s fraud team. He was told the safest course of action was to move his money to another account.<\/p>\n

He followed the instructions and transferred \u20ac10,000 to an account that, unknown to him, was controlled by fraudsters.<\/p>\n

While keeping him on the call, the fraudster extracted highly sensitive information, including his online banking details, security verification credentials and even his passport information.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s new savings scheme may have \u2018modest\u2019 impact on banks\u2019 income, Goodbody saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bank of Ireland has reported a recent spike in impersonation scams and warned people to be suspicious of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7863,72,61,60],"class_list":["post-483377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bank-of-ireland","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483377","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=483377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}