EVERYONE in the community has a role to play to make sure their neighbours, especially the elderly, don’t lose their life savings in a fraudulent scam.
That’s according to Drimoleague native, Det Supt Patrick Lordan, who heads up the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Irish Financial Intelligence Unit.
He was speaking about the increase in cyber enabled crimes across the country at a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) where he also warned people against investing in crypto currencies.
‘Cybercrime is growing more sophisticated every day and while we can repeat the warning not to give your personal details online, anyone with a mobile phone is also at risk,’ Det Supt Lordan said.
‘We receive phone calls and texts that we are led to believe are from our bank, telling us to log on to ensure that our accounts are not frozen, and we have to remind people again and again to never reply or click on a link and never give your details over the phone.
‘Our local communities have a role to play to ensure that their neighbours, especially the elderly are aware of these scams, as many people have lost their life savings.’
Det Supt Lordan, who is the former head of the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau, also warned people who are thinking of investing in the latest crypto currencies to ‘never click on the first website but to seek expert advice first.’
‘Many of these sites on the web are run by criminals and we have cases where people have lost thousands of euro overnight on these sites,’ he said.
Det Supt Lordan also urged people to avoid online shopping, where possible and to support local businesses. ‘If you have to shop online, remember there is always a risk,’ Det Supt Lordan said.
