A man has been arrested in Dublin by Gardai Investigating Scammers in connection with bank account theft and money laundering.
The man, who is 27 years old, was reportedly detained in Tallaght and is currently being questioned by officers at Clondalkin Garda Station.
The investigation is led by specialists in the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.
“A man was arrested on Thursday, 25th August, 2022, in the Dublin 24 area as part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) into sim-swapping, account takeover, and money laundering.
“As part of an extensive Garda investigation into fraudulent sim swap attacks targeting customers of an Irish commercial bank which incurred losses of approximately €200,000 and for which a man has been charged and convicted, Gardaí at GNECB identified a supplier of SIM cards used to facilitate smishing/sim swap fraud.
“On the morning of Thursday, 25th August 2022, Gardaí from GNECB conducted a search at a residence in the Tallaght area of Dublin 24 where they arrested a man as part of this investigation,” the spokesperson said.
Sim-swapping essentially includes a fraudster accessing the customer’s account using their user name and password.
The man is being held under the seven-day detention period provided for in Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act of 2007, which deals exclusively with organised crime.