Scam alert: In just 24 hours 40 victims are robbed of more than €50,000

Scammers using SMS and email to con victims into clicking on fake links have stolen more than €50,000 in 24 hours, police have warned.

The police said it received a record of 40 criminal reports over the past 24 hours from people who fell victim to the scams.

“In these past hours, just over €50,000 were withdrawn from personal bank accounts,” the police said, calling on people not to respond to dubious messages.

Criminals are using domestic entities such as the postal service or banks to send fake warnings in which the victims are asked to click on a link.

The data the victim provides is then used by the scammers to withdraw cash amounts from personal bank accounts.

The police started receiving reports on these scams from the last week of April. Until now, the police Cyber Crime Unit was asked to assist in more than 400 of these reports, which have resulted in unauthorised withdrawals amounting to €400,000.

The police reiterated its appeal for people to be vigilant and refrain from clicking on any links that accompany messages received by SMS and email.

The link is often very similar to the entity used by the criminals to request the information but takes users to a fake electronic site.

People who fall victim to these types of scams should immediately notify their bank on any unauthorised transaction and report the matter to the police.