Bank of Ireland is today warning customers to beware of a wave of fraudulent ‘eFlow’ text messages in the coming months.
The texts target customers and inform them that they have an unpaid toll fine. eFlow has advised that they do not send text messages with links to confirm account or payment details. Anybody who receives such text messages is warned to ignore them and not open any links.
Bank of Ireland said the scam has been on the rise since February, with up to 10 fake eFlow sites being set up in a day.
The Bank is also expecting an increase in fraudulent text messages cloning more Irish brands over the coming months.
Discussing the high levels of text message fraud, Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland said: “Smishing attacks tend to come in waves, and previously we have seen fraudulent messages appearing to be from delivery services, utility companies, Government agencies or banks. But this latest attack, with fraudsters sending messages purporting to come from eFlow, has lasted now for several months, which is unusual.
“Based on intelligence we have received, we are also expecting fraudsters to ramp up activity cloning other well-known Irish brands in the coming months, particularly electricity and gas companies.
“Text messages purporting to be from any company should be treated with extreme caution – the general rule is to stop, think and check.”
