Gardaí are warning of a new online scam that’s catching people out.
It’s risen on social media platforms where almost anything’s offered for half the original price, including vouchers for shops, hotels, salons, takeaway food, off-licences and even utility bills.
Garda Andy Neill outlines how it works; “The buyer contacts the fraudster via social media and tells them what they want to purchase or what bill they want to pay, the buyer pays this person half the price and then the fraudster contacts the businesses usually over the phone, usually over the phone, and purchases the items or pays the bill for the full price, the fraudster is using cloned, stolen bank and credit cards to purchase the items, the shop or company who sells the products are unaware it’s a fraud until the bank informs them there is a charge back on the transaction”.
He adds; “This will often see an investigation commence and as with all online fraud you follow the money, starting with the person who fraudulently received the goods so if you engage in this activity you will be investigated for obtaining goods or services by deception, often the fraudster is using stolen credit card details which are issued from banks outside of Ireland, you can check the country of origin of a credit card, www.bincodes.com, BIN Checker, enter the first six digits of the card”.
But he warns; “A person using a card from a different country may be a red flag and would require extra enquiries to be carried out by the businesses, it must be stressed the fraudster can use a cloned Irish card as well; be careful and if it sounds too good to be true it probably is too good to be true”.
And while it’s not something many have reported to Gardaí locally, Garda Neill in conclusion notes “It’s just a brand new thing being attempted so I don’t think we’ve had many reports as of yet but I think a bit like some of the other scams out there it will probably mushroom”.
