KCLR News

Gardaí issue warning to people in Kilkenny and Carlow over WhatsApp scam

This week is Fraud Awareness Week

You’re are being warned not to fall foul of a WhatsApp scam that’s doing the rounds.

One local person was conned out of about €1,300 after getting a message from someone claiming to be a family member who’d lost their phone.

It’s just one of the scams being highlighted by the Gardaí in Kilkenny and Carlow for Fraud Awareness Week.

Kilkenny-Carlow Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Peter McConnon explains that this particular scam will appear quite legitimate coming as a WhatsApp message purporting to be from a family member:

“So what they’re saying is ‘Hi Mam, lost my phone. In the process of buying another one. I’m on a friends phone here so you mightn’t recognise the number”

Sergeant McConnon explains that the message will then go on to look for money:

“I need to get a loan of some money. All my financial details are on my phone and I need to purchase another phone. Can you send me on some money”

Hear his conversation with our John Masterson on last evening’s The Way It Is here: