Limerick woman loses money after scammer pretends to be her daughter
A LIMERICK woman lost nearly €1000 after a scammer pretended to be her daughter.
On Wednesday, January 3 a woman in her 50s, who lives on the Pennywell Road, received a text from an unknown number.
The text read “Hi Mum” so the lady assumed it was from her daughter. The mum read the text, it appeared that her daughter needed money to repair her phone.
Unfortunately, the mum did not hesitate to send her bank details to who she believed was her daughter as she was in need of some money.
The mum sent a photo of her bank card and within minutes almost €900 euro was taken from her bank account. She subsequently discovered that she had been a victim of a scam.
Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention officer at Henry Street garda station offered advice to people on how to avoid becoming a victim of the scam.
"This scam is going around a while and I received that text myself a number of months ago. It does trigger a sense of panic and a need to help your child but as my daughter was sitting with me, I knew it was a scam.
"There is also a “Hi Dad” text going around and I understand why a parent might be caught out.
"The security advice remains the same, PAUSE, ring your child directly, if you cannot contact them ring a trusted friend and ask them….could this be a scam? Do not share your bank details with anybody".