A Galway county councillor highlighted how sophisticated cyber fraudsters are when during a debate on the matter at Galway County Joint Policing Committee this week, she revealed that she had been almost taken in by scammers.
Tuam’s Cllr Karey McHugh said that she had been the victim of cyber fraud by someone falsely claiming to be her bank. She said she was very surprised that despite hearing about all the warnings, that the level of sophistication lulled her into such a false sense of belief.
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“Normally, I would not fall for that but the sophistication was impressive. The text message came in and intercepted the thread of messages I would normally get from AIB. But I had the two-step authentication so I contacted AIB and they told me to expect a phone call from an Irish number and from someone speaking with an Irish accent. It is that which is catching out so many people,” she said.
'The financial institutions say they never look for personal data over the phone, but people are continually being caught'
In response, Chief Supt Tom Curley said that he was sorry that Cllr McHugh and so many others were victims of these crimes. “Cllr McHugh is correct. These scams are very professional. They are carbon copies of the sites they are trying to mimic.”
He said that Gardai in the region now have the help of a specialist cyber crime unit based in the Garda HQ at Murrough.
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“The financial institutions say they never look for personal data over the phone, but people are continually being caught. They are also being conned by the bitcoin scams and people are losing substantial amounts of money. There is no such thing as a quick m million or else everyone would be at it,” he said.
He praised the role of Sgt Mick Walsh and the local media in getting the message out. “The elderly are very vulnerable, so it is vital that within communities, we get the information out. Keep their personal data to yourself. If someone rings you don’t know, contact the gardai and let us know.
"If they have been conned into giving the data, contact us immediately. Don’t stick your head in the sand because there might be ways to retrieve the money if you let us know straightaway," he said.
