Gardaí have issued two warnings in relation to recent incidents involving distraction crime and a text scam.
Crime Prevention Officer for Clare Sergeant Triona Brooks outline the circumstances of the first incident.
“On the 29th August two males entered a shop in north Clare. One male paid for items bought and the second male looked for change of four €50 notes. The young shop assistant handed over the 10 euro notes and the other male used sleight of hand to remove some of the notes from the bundle.
The other male then handed back the 10 euro notes and looked for the original 4 €50 notes back. The shop assistant started to count the 10 notes when one of the men took it from him and took more notes out of the bundle and another shop assistant gave the 50’s back and the two men left the shop left the shop – the shop were at a loss of €150.”
Sgt Brooks said: “We would advise shop owners to be very careful if a person asks for change of money and don’t be distracted.”
In another incident, a lady received a SMS message from someone purporting to be from DHL telling her that she had to pay €1.99 to secure a parcel for delivery to her.
Sgt Brooks said: “The woman followed the link on the SMS and entered her account details and then realised that €290 had been taken from her account.”
“Another lady booked an apartment on line in Dublin for two nights and paid over €200 – she then wanted to cancel one of the nights and asked for a refund – they agreed to the refund and when she gave her account details and within minutes five different withdrawals were made from her account totalling €600,” Sgt Brooks added.
The Garda advice is:
– Don’t click on a link or download an attachment. Never respond to a text message that requests your PIN or password.
– When in doubt double check on your bank’s website or give them a call.
– If you think you might have responded to a text or email and have provided your details, contact your bank immediately.