Scams now a part of daily life
Scammers are out to rob absolutely everybody, young and old, but recent trends show that our older folk are more at risk these days as we experience yet another spike in cyber crime.
Over 60% of fraud victims in Cork so far this year were aged 41 or over as wave after wave of impersonation scams continue to sweep the country.
According to the latest garda figures, of the 180 people in this category in Cork, 67 of them were over 60, with the remaining 113 aged between 41 and 60.
Last month, Chief Supt Vincent O'Sullivan of the Cork North and West Garda Divisions said people across the county are falling victim to phishing (fraudulent emails), vishing (fraudulent phone calls), and smishing (fraudulent text messages).
With this in mind, Bank of Ireland is warning its customers to be extra vigilant in their interactions with businesses online and when responding to unsolicited or unexpected texts, emails, or phone calls.
As part of the bank’s new campaign against fraud a survey was carried out by Red C which found that 96% of Irish consumers believe they will be targeted in the next six months, with 82% saying they are being targeted at least once per month.
The most common forms of impersonation fraud involve calls, texts or emails from fraudsters posing as a parcel delivery company (80%), a road toll provider (55%) or their bank (49%).
Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud at Bank of Ireland, says fraud and cybercrime have unfortunately become part of people’s everyday lives, with most victims saying they fell for the scam because they were distracted or too busy at the time.
“Impersonation is at the root of the majority of fraud in circulation for both our personal and business customers,” explained Ms Sadlier.
“We are regularly seeing fraudsters sending texts posing as delivery companies, road toll and government agencies,” she added.
According to Ms Sadlier, parents are being targeted by scammers impersonating their children, claiming to be in need of urgent help.
Ms Sadlier continued: “These are cynical criminals whose main goal is to access people’s bank accounts and steal their money.
“That’s why we are reminding customers that often all is not what it seems as fraudsters continue to impersonate trusted businesses and organisations, including banks.
“The message is Stop, Think, Check. Access your banking only through the official mobile banking app or website by typing in a website address and treat every unsolicited call, text or email as a potential fraud attempt,” she added.
More data from the survey revealed that the majority of Irish people now recognise a fraud attempt and react in the correct way, with 89% of people who were targeted by a call, text, or email saying that they realised very quickly that it was a scam, so they deleted or ignored it.
However, given the large number of scams in operation, the fraudsters rely on a relatively small percentage of people falling for the scam for it to be successful.
If people suspect they have been a victim of fraud they should contact their bank immediately so that the bank can take action to stop a fraud in progress and try to recover funds.