A man and a woman have been arrested following a search operation by gardaí attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) targeting ‘smishing’ attacks on bank account holders. The operation took place in Tallaght this morning and the woman arrested was later released without charges.
Account holders received a text, believing it was from their bank with a link attached which brought them to a cloned website. They then input their PINs which allows the fraudsters to take control of their bank account and transfer money to a money mule account. In one such case, a victim lost €7,500 and it was laundered through the accounts of a 22 year old female.
The female arrested was later released without charges. A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
According to gardai, the arrested male, purporting to be a bank employee, was calling to the homes of account holders who had received ‘vishing’ calls. This man was collecting their bank cards from them. As the fraudsters already had the victim’s PINs, he was then able to use their cards to make withdrawals and purchases.
He remains detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Clondalkin Garda station.