A leading Irish bank has warned about a rise in fraudulent text messages, with fraudsters pretending to be a motorway operator and sending messages urging customers to pay outstanding toll charges or update account details.
Bank of Ireland said it is seeing a large increase in motorway-themed 'smishing', with texts containing links to fake websites in an attempt to collect personal card and online banking details.
Nicola Sadlier, head of fraud at Bank of Ireland said, “Smishing attacks tend to come in waves, and the latest theme is motorway fraud, where fraudsters are sending fake text purportedly from operators such as eFlow.
“When you click on the text it leads to a fake website where some will end up providing their confidential card and bank account details.
"As more people will be hitting the roads this Easter weekend, they might be more inclined to click on such a text message thinking it is legitimate.
“In the past we have seen similar waves of fraudulent messages appearing to be from delivery services, Government agencies or banks and now it seems that motorway smishing is trending.
“Text messages should be treated with extreme caution – the general rule is never trust, always verify,” Ms Sadlier advised.
Bank of Ireland has advised its customers not to click on links or respond to SMS text messages which appear as if sent by a motorway toll operator looking for payment for an unpaid toll.
It also reminded customers that banks, delivery companies, utility providers and Government agencies will never send a text linking to a website that requests online banking details.
eFlow has also advised anyone who receives a text message regarding unpaid tolls to ignore the message and not to open any links.
Bank of Ireland said that if people do get a suspicious text, they should email a screenshot of the text to [email protected] and then delete the text.
It also said that customers who think they gave away their banking details should call its 24/7 Freephone line - 1800 946764 - immediately.
