Gardai warn about phone scam that sees victims hand over card details

Gardaí have issued a warning about a telephone scam that involves unsuspecting members of the public handing over their credit card details.

The 'vishing' scam sees people receive calls from someone posing to be a 'security manager' for a well-known retailer.

The caller contacts unsuspecting people to tell them their credit or debit card has been fraudulently used at the store.

The 'security manager' then asks for the people to give their personal financial details. If people refuse to pass over their details, the 'manager' tells them to contact their bank or the gardaí to give them the information.

They then hang up and in some cases will call the gardaí or bank on the same landline.

However, the fraudsters on the other end of the line will stay on the phone, and an accomplice will pretend to be the gardaí, convincing people to hand over their details.

Gardaí have reported that a number of people have given over their financial details this way, and in some cases have allowed money to be taken out of their bank accounts.

Over 30 people have contacted a well-known retailer complaining that someone has posed as a member of their staff.

The scheme is known as 'vishing', or 'voice phishing' and has resulted in a number of people being scammed.

It is similar to 'phishing' which is the online version of the scam, and 'SMShing' which is the text version of the scam.