Man arrested for calling to homes pretending to be a bank official and taking ATM cards

A man has been arrested for calling to people’s doors, while pretending to be a bank official, and asking for their ATM cards. 

 

The arrest came as gardaí investigated a scam as part of a “vishing” operation, where fraudsters phoned up account holders while posing as their bank, and asked for their PIN numbers. 

 

A man then called to the house of the account holders saying he was required to confiscate their cards. 

 

“As the fraudsters already had the victims’ PINs, he was then able to use their cards to make withdrawals and purchases,” the Garda said on Monday. “A man was identified and he was arrested this morning.” 

 

The 21-year-old man was arrested under Operation Waltz by officers from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) and is currently being detained for questioning at Clondalkin Garda station, where he can be kept for up to 24 hours. 

 

‘Smishing’ arrest 

In an separate investigation, a woman has been arrested in Dublin for assisting in “smishing” attacks on account holders. 

 

Smishing is a type of fraud which involves sending the victim a text purporting to be from a genuine company in order to have them enter their personal details on a cloned website. 

 

In the attacks investigated by gardaí from the GNECB under Operation Ransom, fraudsters sent account holders a text, which appeared to come from their bank, containing a link to a fake bank website. 

 

The victims inputted their login details into the website, which allowed the criminals to take control of their accounts. 

 

Money was then transferred from these accounts and laundered through so-called “money mule” accounts. 

 

In one case, a victim lost €7,500 which was laundered through the account of a 22-year-old woman. 

 

This woman was arrested on Monday morning and is currently being detained at Rathfarnham Garda station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. 

 

The Irish Times