AIB warns of sharp rise in scam texts this week

AIB has warned of a significant rise in the number of customers receiving fraudulent text messages claiming to be from the bank this week.

In the month of July, scam texts are already up 150% on the previous month.

“These messages can be delivered in our genuine thread but following recent changes by Comreg, they are now predominantly coming from unregistered mobile numbers,” the bank said in a statement.

“And these messages often reference other legitimate company names who are in no way connected to the scam.”

The bank said customers are being tricked into thinking their accounts are compromised and are being asked to move their money to another financial institution for safekeeping.

One example falsely claimed the transaction was from Foley’s Plumbing Limited, a legitimate business.

Foley’s Plumbing has a notice on its website warning customers about the scam.

According to AIB, the text messages instruct people to call a provided phone number.

Upon calling, they hear an automated message that mimics AIB’s genuine system and are then connected to an individual who is posing as a member of AIB’s fraud team.

“This person falsely claims that the customer’s AIB account has been compromised and advises them to transfer their money to another financial institution, which is often the customer’s own account, for safekeeping,” AIB explained.

“The fraudster then provides the customer with what appears to be a ‘new’ account number, and customers are instructed to move their funds again to this account.

“Unfortunately, this so-called new account is controlled by scammers, resulting in victims losing all transferred funds.”

Mary McHale, Head of Financial Crime asked customers and non-customers to be on alert.

“You should wait a sec and double check, and never move your money to another account after receiving a call or text claiming to be us,” she said.

“Where customers are scammed, AIB deals sympathetically with them on a case-by-case basis.

“We are continuously investing to enhance our fraud monitoring systems in response to new and existing fraud trends,” she added.