Scammers pretending to be gardaí seeking bank details operating in Donegal

Donegal gardaí have warned about a phone scam, with perpetrators pretending to be from An Garda Síochána.

Callers are saying that the recipient of the call must pay a fine, having been involved in criminal activity and gardaí have stressed for people to exercise their vigilance.

“We want the public to be aware that we will never contact them by phone to allege that they have engaged in criminal activity, and we will never demand bank details or the payment of a fine over the phone,” a spokesperson said.

“We are aware of a current scam/fraud where a person receives a phone call claiming to be from An Garda Síochána - the caller may say that they are investigating you for a crime and/or that there is a warrant out for your arrest. The caller then demands that you provide your bank account details to pay a fine. These calls come from a variety of international numbers and Irish mobile numbers but these calls are entirely fraudulent and not real.

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“We do not and will not make contact with a person who is under investigation by Gardaí in this way. Our advice to help avoid becoming a victim of fraud - don’t respond to any unsolicited calls or emails seeking personal, financial or security information; if you believe that the call or email is from a genuine source, verify this independently of the person who has made contact; independently verify any requests for information and never use the contact details supplied to you in the fraudulent call or email and never click on a link or attachment in an unsolicited email.

“It’s very easy to have inadvertently or otherwise engaged with this scam or similar scams and have subsequently found yourself to be a victim of fraud. If you have fallen victim to any type of scam, please contact us so we can help.”