Bank warning on new remote access scam as attempts to steal money rise

A warning has been issued to bank customers about a new scam in which fraudsters are attempting to gain remote access to computers and bank accounts. 

Bank of Ireland is urging customers to be on their guard due to a new wave of fraud targeting banks in Europe, the UK, the US, Australia, and New Zealand which is now active in Ireland.  

The fraudsters are mainly targeting business banking customers at this time, duping them into allowing remote access to their computers and bank accounts.  

Reports of this type of scam to Bank of Ireland’s fraud line are increasing daily as the fraud gang target Irish customers.  

During the scam, the customer gets a phone call from someone claiming to be from Bank of Ireland.

The caller asks the customer to log into their online banking as normal.

The caller (fraudster) then asks the customer to go to another new website address, saying that this is: “for a live chat service” or “to verify the customer’s PC”, but in reality it allows the fraudster remote access to the customer’s PC.  The fraudster can now see the customer’s screen and access all of the customer’s files and programmes.

The caller will set up payments on the customer’s online banking and ask the customer to read out the one-time codes from their BOI app to approve the payments.

Bank of Ireland said if you get a call from someone who asks you to go to a website or to click on a link that they will send to you, just hang up. 

They urge people to never allow a caller to take remote access of your PC.  

If someone asks you for a one-time code from your online banking app, they are a fraudster, the bank advises.  They urge people to never, ever share those codes with anyone, even if they say they are from Bank of Ireland. 

Bank customers are advised to be very careful when logging on to your online banking website.  The safest thing is to type in the website address yourself or to log in through the main Bank of Ireland website at bankofireland.com. 

Commenting on the current wave of fraudulent messages, Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland said: "We are urging customers, especially business customers, to be on their guard at this time. This new scam is of particular concern as fraudsters are convincing people to allow access to their PCs via a fake ‘live chat’, where they can access Business customers’ online banking, and other personal files and information. This is all designed with one thing in mind – to steal your money.

"Customers should take extra care right now when logging into their online banking to ensure it is a legitimate site.  People are currently being directed to fake sites, receiving follow-up phone calls from fraudsters and then being convinced to allow remote access.  This scam is multi-layered and the international nature of the scam shows that it has been highly effective for the fraudsters elsewhere".  

For more advice and information on fraud, search ‘Bank of Ireland Security Zone’.