Common Frauds and Scams

Recognising types of frauds and scams

• Investment Scam

  What is the scam?

  A scam that tricks you into investing your money into a fake, but often convincing opportunity.  

  How does the scam work?

  • Someone looking to invest will browse the internet for opportunities, When they find one, they fill in a contact form.
  • The fake company will contact them and provide sophisticated material – high end brochures and documents.
  • Some even have fake videos and articles from celebrities endorsing the investment.
  • Some may mimic genuine employees from legitimate company.
  • All offer an investment that is too good to be true and pressure the investor to make fast payments to ensure they get the best return.

  
  How to avoid this scam

  • Always check if the company is authorised by a financial regulator to deal in investments.
  • Get independent financial advice before sending any of your money.
  • Never allow the fraudster access to your personal or financial details.
  • Do not respond to high pressure tactics.

  The Central Bank of Ireland advises that Consumers should take the SAFE test before making any financial decisions or providing any personal information:

  S – Stop: Stop, think and ask yourself – What? Who? Why? Do I feel rushed to act?

  A – Assess: Make sure the firm is genuine        

  F – Factcheck: get advice to ensure service or product is genuine

  E - Expose and report: any concerns contact the Central Bank and your own bank.

  Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it certainly is! 

  If your investment or transfer turns out to be fraud, we will try to recover your money but this may not be successful..

• Remote Access Scam

  What is the scam?

  Criminals call you pretending to be your bank or another legitimate company and trick you into downloading software onto you device.

  How does the scam work?

  • You receive an unexpected call from a company about  an issue on your account or that a payment or refund is due.
  • The number may mimic the genuine company.
  • They direct you to download software to your mobile device or computer.
  • They then take control over the device and make payments themselves or trick you into moving money yourself.

  
  How to avoid this scam 

  • Don’t accept unexpected calls.
  • Hang up and call the company on a number trust to check the request.
  • Never give anyone access to your mobile phone or computer.
  • Never give personal or financial information including any one time pass codes you received by text, or codes from your card reader or digipass.

• The Mum and Dad Scam

  What is the scam?

  Criminals contact you from an unknown number, pretending to be your child or family member who needs help.

  How does the scam work?

  • Criminals will text you pretending to be a family member who has a new number.
  • The message will appear from an unknown number.
  • The criminal will say they are in financial difficulty or need to make an urgent payment and ask for money to be sent to them urgently.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Call the family member on their usual mobile number to check they are OK.
  • If you need to engage with the scam text, ask questions only your family member would know.
  • Don’t pay anyone unless you know who they really are. If you send money to a criminal through your AIB account, we will not be able to get it back for you.

• Text Message Scam (Smishing)

  What is the scam?

  Criminals are sending text messages that appear to be from your bank or another legitimate business. Their aim is to get your personal and financial information.

  How does the scam work?

  • The text will claim to be from your bank or another business and contain a link to a website or a phone number for you to call.
  • This message may show in the thread of legitimate messages or come from an unknown number.
  • They will ask you to provide your personal and financial information through this website or over the phone.
  • These messages will have a sense of urgency.
  • We will never send you a text message with a link asking for personal or financial information.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Check with the sender if the request is legitimate before clicking on the link.  
    
  • Never share your registration number or personal access code or card information after clicking a link in a text message.
  • Never share one time pass codes (OTC) or codes from your card reader.
  • We will never visit your home to collect your card.

  * While we may send marketing surveys through, text we will never ask you to login to your accounts or for your personal information.

• Phone Call Scam (Vishing)

  What is the scam?

  Criminals use phone calls to contact you pretending to be from your bank or another legitimate company. Their aim is to get your personal and financial details for their gain

  How does this scam work?

  The caller claims to be from a legitimate company. They may claim to:

  • Offer you a tax refund.
  • Be the police and they need you to assist with preventing a crime.
  • Be a utility company: offering to ’fix’ PC or broadband problems.
  • Have found fraud on your account, and they will help you to cancel some transactions.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Don’t accept unexpected calls.
  • Hang up and call the company on a number that you trust to check the request.
  • Never give personal or financial information including any one time pass codes, or codes from your Card Reader or iBusiness Banking (IBB) Digipass.

• Fraudulent Email Scam (Phishing)

  What is the scam?

  Criminals commonly use emails to steal your personal and financial information and will claim to be from your bank or other legitimate companies.

  How does the scam work?

  • The email will claim to be from your bank or another legitimate company.
  • They will ask you to provide your personal and financial information through this website or over the phone.
  • These emails will sound urgent.

  How to spot this scam?

  • We will never send you an email with a link asking for personal or financial information.
  • Check by ringing the sender on a trusted number to ensure the request is legitimate before clicking on any links or attachments. 
  • Never share your registration number or personal access code or card information after clicking a link in an email. 
  • Never share one time pass codes (OTC) or codes from your card reader.
  • Banks may send you marketing surveys through email, but they will never ask you to login to your accounts, or for your personal information.
  • We will never visit your home to collect your card.

• Email Scams

  What is the scam?

  Scammers can hack into companies email systems or use a similar email address to the legitimate one and attempt to get you to make payments. 

  How does the scam work?

  • Criminals can pretend to be from a supplier, contractor or solicitor who is known to you. They email you to say their bank account details have changed.
  • They may also pretend to be a staff member or senior manager within your business. 
  • They will ask that payments should be made to a new account, which actually belongs to the criminal.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Do not accept any payment instructions by email.
  • Always verify payment requests by calling a number you know.
  • Don’t use the email they sent you to verify the details.
  • If you make and authorise a payment to one of these fraudulent accounts, we will try to recover your money but this may not be successful.

• Purchase Scams – Buying online

  What is the scam?

  Fraudsters can mimic a genuine website to sell goods. They use images of genuine products but at a cheaper price. The goods probably do not exist.

  How does the scam work?

  • Fraud websites are created to look like the legitimate company.
  • The goods are advertised at a much cheaper price.
  • Contact may be by email. Phone numbers may never be answered.
  • Often payments will only be accepted by bank transfer.
  • Examples include, machinery, motor homes, fashion, and electronics.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Only buy from reputable sellers.
  • Make sure the website is secure.
  • Check reviews on the company to see if others have been affected.
  • Ask yourself is the price too good to be true.

• Loan Scams

  What is the scam?

  Fraudsters set up fake websites to offer quick loans.

  How does the scam work?

  • The loan application is always online.
  • The loan will always be approved but an upfront payment will be requested.
  • The fraudster claims this is for insurance and the first repayment.
  • The money is requested to be transferred to another IBAN number.
  • Once payment is made all contact with the provider will cease.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Only apply for credit from regulated companies.
  • Do not make any upfront payments for a loan application.
  • If in doubt get independent advice.

• Malware (Trojans and Viruses)

  What is the scam?

  Fraudulent software is used to infect computers or mobile phones so that criminals can gather your personal or security information when you use them.

  How does the scam work?

  • Malware can infect your phone or computer, through infected attachments in emails or files/ads on infected websites.
  • You may receive a pop up on your screen requesting your personal and financial information.
  • You may be asked to re-confirm your identity, or to expect a follow up call.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Never put your details into an unexpected pop up screen, including login information and codes from your Card Reader or Digipass.
  • Use the address bar to type in the correct website address rather than browsing the web for the login page.
  • If you do get a pop up – you may have a virus on your device so close your device and get a professional IT security company to check it out.

• SIM Swap Scam

  What is the scam?

  In a SIM swap criminals contact your mobile phone provider pretending to be you and requests that the existing mobile number needs to be assigned to a new or ’replacement’ SIM card. This allows the criminal to intercept genuine messages that you receive.

  How does the scam work?

  • The fraudster will contact your phone provider and request a new sim card with your number.
  • They will use this to receive the one time pass codes sent from your bank to authorise payments.

  How to avoid this scam

  • If you have lost signal on your phone or have issues with your sim card contact your phone provider immediately.

• Romance scams

  What is the scam?

  Romance scam victims believe they have met their perfect match online, but the other person is in fact a scammer using a fake profile to build the relationship. They slowly gain the victim’s trust and eventually ask them for money.

  How does the scam work?

  • They will try to move communications away from the dating app.
  • Ask a lot of personal questions but avoid answering questions about themselves. The details they do share may seem made up and far from reality.
  • Ask for financial help. They may tell you they are having money problems, a medical emergency or money to travel to meet you. Never hand over your hard-earned money.

  How to avoid this scam

  • Always use a trusted dating website.
  • Do not share personal information.
  • Never share financial information or send money to support them.
  • Trust your instincts.