Two locals are down hundreds of euro after bogus online transactions.
One answered an ad offering an iPhone 15 Promax, but after handing over €800 discovered it was fake.
And Garda Andy Neill says they weren’t the only person caught out, telling KCLR News “Another victim arranged a purchase of an iPhone which she saw advertised and agreed a sum of €343, she was requested to click ‘pay as a friend’ to avoid charges, the phone never arrived and as she clicked the friend option PayPal cannot retrieve her funds”.
He adds “Beware of this, so if you’re buying anything through this and the vendor who you don’t know says ‘oh, click me as a friend because you’ll avoid taxes’, you wouldn’t be paying taxes as a purchaser for a private purchase like that so it’s more than likely a scam and you’re removing a lot of your consumer protection that PayPal is actually very good at giving, so just be very careful”.
