GARDAÍ ARE ADVISING members of the public to be vigitant due to “very high” levels of text message scams.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) have been contacted by numerous banks and financial institutions over the text message – or ‘smishing’ – fraud.

According to gardaí, rather than placing links within the fraudulent text, fraudsters are issuing phone numbers for customers to ring in order to resolve an alleged issue with the customer’s account.

When customers then ring the number, automated music and voice messages mimic the bank in question making the experience very convincing. When an agent answers the phone, they then scam customers into divulging their banking and security credentials.

Gardaí is advising customers to be extra vigilant.

They said the fraudulent text messages can often appear within a previous, genuine thread of texts, and can contain phone numbers to call which are not the genuine bank numbers.

Anyone who receives a text message like this is advised to call their bank and check to see if the number is a genuine bank number. This can be verified on the bank’s website.

Customers are advised that financial institutions will never ask them to hand over security details over the phone. 

Anyone who has responded to a text message that they believe is fraudulent should contact their bank as soon as possible.

Gardaí said there are “numerous” smishing scams in operation purporting to be from banks, delivery companies and couriers, utility providers and government agencies.

They are reminding the public to always be wary of texts from unknown senders, and unusual requests that can even appear in the thread of previous genuine texts.

A garda spokesperson said that people should never ever click on links in a text and never ring a number contained in a text. 

They should never ever give away their personal data, such as bank details, PIN numbers, passwords, one time codes, PPS number or Eircode, or transfer money. 

If a caller purports to be a son or daughter seeking money, the person should hang up and try and make contact with your child or their friends.

Gardaí are also advising the public to be wary of cold calls, and to always ask the caller their name and for their phone number.

If they have any concerns, they should hang up and ring their bank or service provider using the number on their last bill or bank statement. Just because a number looks like an Irish number doesn’t mean it is, a garda spokesperson said. 

People are also advised never to download any apps that give fraudsters control of their device. 

If someone has been a victim, they should change your passwords and PIN codes, report it to their bank as soon as possible and ask them to do a recall.

Gardaí also urged the public to report any suspected incidents of fraud directly to them.