Limerick gardai warn public over investment fraud
GARDAI in Limerick have issued advice to the public after it was announced that people in Ireland lost millions of euro to investment fraud last year.
Investment fraud is where criminals pose as investment managers to fool someone into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist.
Between January 2020 and January this year, over 965 people have reported incidents of investment fraud to An Garda Síochána.
Sophisticated criminals are cloning webpages and targeting victims through online and social media adverts by promising ‘once in a lifetime opportunities’. You must instantly invest but you will receive fast and large financial returns.
Almost 70% of victims last year were men. This has increased since 2020 when men made up just over 50% of the number of victims. The vast majority of those men affected are aged over 40.
In January 2024, a man in his 70s, based in the east of Ireland reported that he had over €190,000 stolen after he had invested the money in what he thought was a legitimate British company.
In May 2023, a 40-year-old man clicked on a social media link advertising investment opportunities and entered his contact details.
He was later contacted by phone from a person purporting to be from a reputable financial institution about purchasing bank bonds. The victim was defrauded of €100,000.
During 2023, a man in his 60s reported that he had been contacted online about investing with a British financial institution. After being convinced by the person he was communicating with, he transferred funds and had €300,000 stolen.
Earlier this year, a man in his 50s had €121,000 stolen through investment fraud. The victim understood that he was legitimately engaged in online trading and was communicating with someone online who had encouraged him into it.
This was a particularly sophisticated crime as the victim had access to an online trading app and he believed that he could see his funds being traded, however, the app itself was fake.
Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention officer at Henry Street garda station offered advice to people on how to avoid becoming victims of investment fraud.
"Do not invest in anything until you get reliable financial and legal advice. Check the status of the company via the Central Bank of Ireland webpage.
"Do not respond to pop-up ads or social media ads for investing. Ignore unsolicited approaches or cold calls about investments.
"Do not click on links for webpages that you do not know. Never allow anyone remote access to your computer or download Apps that can give others control of your computer ‘AnyDesk’ is one example.
"Never disclose personal data or bank account passwords or codes."