Limerick gardai issue warning over fake 'summons' emails
MEMBERS of the public in Limerick are being advised that gardai do not and will not issue court summons by email.
The warning follows a recent incident locally which saw a woman receive an email which claimed to be from gardai.
"A woman who I met recently told me that she had received an email stating that the online sites she visited were monitored and she was discovered to have viewed child pornography and sex trafficking sites. She knew that this was complete rubbish but read the email anyway, it went on to say that since she was guilty of being on these sites she would have to pay a fine," said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch.
According to gardai, the woman was informed she could pay the €500 fine immediately by return email and would, therefore avoid going to court and avoid the publicity.
She was informed that she should reply to the email immediately as there was only a small window of opportunity for her to
pay and avoid court.
"Summons are not sent by email, they are served by a member of An Garda Siochana in person or by registered post. I can see why a person would get a shock and maybe reply to the email but of course, this is exactly what the scammers want you to do," said Sgt Leetch.
The garda advice is to delete such emails and to never click on the links.