Scammers online got more than they bargained for when they called a garda station instead of a member of the public.
Scammers mistakingly call Irish garda station
The suspicious call was received at the busy garda station from a number originating from caller identity 000644246###.
According to the Irish Examiner, an officer picked up the phone when it rang on Friday as they thought they were about to help a member of the public.
According to a Garda statement: “The caller stated that he was ringing on behalf of ‘eir’ (telephone and broadband provider) and that a problem had been encountered in the recent past with an internet router in the locality.
“The caller wished to fix this issue but of course needed for the customer to log onto the Google browser and open up a signal strength website and consent to handing over remote access to the caller in order to remedy the issue.
“The caller, was a short time later informed, that he had contacted a Garda Station and strangely enough the call was disconnected!”
Gardaí online posted messages warning the public of the scam.
Eir has warned the public what to look out for if they receive similar phone calls.
“Phishing phone calls tend to impersonate company personnel or employees. The calls will often come from an Irish phone number in an attempt to look more genuine.
“The calling number is often spoofed, meaning it is not the actual number from which the call is originating.”
