A TD had her credit card hacked by fraudsters who tried to buy flights and computer accessories.
Labour’s Ann Phelan told the Irish Mirror €1,200 was taken from her Bank of Ireland account by scammers who tried to splash her cash on a getaway.
The backbencher admitted she’d no idea her card was being accessed until a call from the bank warning her.
She said: “I can’t understand it. I tend to only use what I thought were reputable and safe sites.
"I don’t tend to buy on the internet too often anyway.
"I had tried to use the card a few times and it wouldn’t work and I had had a call from the bank earlier in the week.
“I replayed the message and it said it had stopped the card because there was unusual activity on it.”
The fraudsters tried to buy €900 worth of flights from Air France and €305 worth of computer accessories from Italy on the card.
The bank managed to stop the flights going through and have refunded the other cash to Ms Phelan.
But she said: “I actually didn’t notice. If the bank didn’t they would have kept going until they reached the credit card limit.
“Thankfully I am not out of pocket but it is worrying to think that even though I only went on reputable sites that this could happen.
“It could have been so much worse. I thought I had been safe enough.”
The news emerged in the same week thousands of euro were stolen from customers in two Bank of Ireland branches when their current accounts were skimmed. The scam came to light on Sunday, prompt-ing account holders in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny and in Borris, Co Carlow, to contact their local branches.
The Carlow/Kilkenny TD said she had spoken to a number of people in Graiguenamanagh who had experienced similar incidents.
She said: “The only common denominator is the Graiguenamanagh branch. It cannot be coincidental.
“The four people I spoke to all had one transaction in common – for €128 on electrical equipment.”
Ms Phelan claimed the incident highlighted the need for people to take precautions when using their bank because “there is always someone technologically smarter than you”.
SOURCE-IRISH MIRROR
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