ALERT: Major Irish bank warns of dramatic spike in a sophisticated ‘safe account’ scam

Bank of Ireland (BOI) is warning customers about a dramatic increase this week in reports and cases of an attempted ‘safe account’ scam. 

Customers should be on alert for fraudulent texts that attempt to lure them into to calling a fake ‘bank’ phoneline where the account holder is then duped into transferring funds to their secondary account, in most cases Revolut, and in turn, a ‘safe account’ which is controlled by a fraudster.

Reports of the scam to Bank of Ireland’s fraud line and text checker service have been on the increase since the start of the year and this week has shown an alarming increase, with daily reports of over 10 times the number of those reported weekly in April and May. 

How the scam occurs:

Customer gets a text message to their phone requesting that they call a phone number about a suspicious transaction/ activity.

The texts claim to be from Bank of Ireland and can drop into the thread of a genuine BOI text: “Did you login from a new device?”; “Do you recognise this transaction?”; or “A transaction for [value] to [merchant] was declined and your card has been placed on hold“  - followed by “if this was not you/ if you don’t recognise this/ please call us back on [callback phone number].  

Callback numbers are usually landline numbers including 01/ 1800/ regional codes. 

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The callback number will be answered by someone claiming to be from Bank of Ireland, and that there has been suspicious transactions and the customer’s account is compromised.

The victim is then asked if they have a Revolut or another secondary account.  If they say yes, they are told that they should move all the money in their BOI account into this secondary account. The fraudster doesn’t ask for access to the customer’s account, and do not ask for any security details like PIN’s or codes – avoiding common ‘red flags’ associated with fraud. 

The victim is then told they then need to move their money from their Revolut account to a new ‘safe’ account. 

Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland commented on this shocking scam, saying, “We have been seeing a concerning pattern in the increase of this type of fraud.  This week’s escalation has resulted in the highest number of reports in a single day of this particular type of fraud, so we need our customers and the general public to be vigilant and recognise the warning signs. 

"Our main advice is to look out for these texts and do not call back.  And remember that Bank of Ireland will never ask you to move your money to another account to keep it safe.  If you think you have been a victim of fraud, call the bank’s fraud team immediately on the 24/7 freephone line 1800 946 764," she concluded. 

What Bank of Ireland customers can do:

Screenshot the message and send to 365security@boi.com

If in doubt, call your trusted numbers, such as the phone number on back of your physical card or from the phone contact details in your mobile app.