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# Scam
Warning over increase in 'phishing' emails seeking PTSB account details
Email users are being bombarded with scam emails asking for account details and mobile phone numbers.
A PHISHING SCAM, whereby email-users are sent bogus messages purporting to be from Permanent TSB, appears to be on the increase.
A spokesperson for the bank said they had been hearing reports of a rise in similar con-efforts in Ireland in recent weeks, and that branding from various financial institutions was being used to try and fool customers into handing over personal details.
Readers of TheJournal.ie say there’s been an upsurge in the fake emails in recent days. We received a number of responses like the ones below, after sending an enquiry out on Twitter this morning:
- “I got three this morning and I don’t even have an account with them” – Sheila Beatty
- “Yes, I received one yesterday and one today. Gmail treats them as spam” – Ciarán Tate
- “I got the PTSB email two days ago” – Thomas McNicholas
- “Getting them for months. Don’t even have a PTSB account. Just keep deleting!!” – ‘amfeely’
The bogus email tells people their account has been “locked for security reasons” and includes instructions to download the following form:
A spokesperson for Permanent TSB says “our advice is the same with all these thing – we won’t ever send you unsolicited emails asking you to click on links”.
He said the bank would never ask for details like account numbers via email, and added that there was “nothing unique” in the fact that PTSB branding was being used in the scam. He added:
We’ve noted reports of an increase in activity involving all the usual Irish banking names.
The banks’s customer care department is asking anyone who receives the scam emails to pass them on to info@permanenttsb.ie.
Read: Consumer agency urges vigilance against scams >
Read: Man jailed for cheating grandmother out of £1 million lottery win>
Read: Revenue warns internet users over fake email ‘tax refund’ scam>
