Bank of Ireland Asks Customers to Be Extra Vigilant For COVID-19 Online Fraud

31 March 2020

Bank of Ireland has today asked its customers to remain vigilant for online fraud, with increased potential for fraudsters to exploit the current period of uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 outbreak.

With large numbers of people working remotely and more people generally conducting their daily business online, fraudsters may use this as an opportunity to pull off successful scams. Bank of Ireland is urging customers to be wary of newly created fake websites, and not to respond to bogus SMS text messages seeking their personal details. Customers should also watch out for the following scams currently in circulation:

• Fraudulent WhatsApp messages offering “banking advice”
• Suspicious social media posts linking back to fake websites
• Requests to dial high costs phone lines operating as advice centres
• Calls from fake medical or charitable organisations asking for urgent money transfers
• Suspicious emails or texts asking for personal details or linking to fake websites

Bank of Ireland’s online security team continues working to identify new fraud attempts on a daily basis and any customers with concerns should send an email to 365security@boi.com if they spot anything suspicious. The Bank will never text a customer asking them to update or provide online banking information, and any customer receiving such texts should delete them from their mobile device immediately.

Customers can also take practical steps to ensure they are banking safely online, such as making sure they log out of online banking sessions once they are finished and by ensuring they have updated antivirus software installed on laptops and home computers.

More information and advice about how to deal with online threats and better protect yourself online is available in our Security Zone. Customers can also follow advice from the Take Five Campaign at: https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/