500% rise in reports of online fraud in Tipperary
Fraud Of Is Ireland Derek Being Year Millions Money Through The By That Each Amount Said In In Chief Smart Lost Consumers Superintendent The
The level of online fraud reported to gardaí in Tipperary has risen by 500% in the past year.
Gardaí revealed at today’s meeting of the Tipperary joint policing committee that fraud has soared in 2021, particularly in relation to online frauds including phishing, smishing, account takeover and shopping.
Chief Superintendent Derek Smart said: “There were 370 (fraud) crimes reported in Tipperary this year. This is the picture right across the whole country.” They included deception, as well as online fraud which has increased by 502%.
He said efforts to educate people about the dangers of responding to unsolicited emails have not prevented such frauds. And he said the actual number of people being caught in frauds may not be known because people can be embarrassed to say they were duped.
He continued: “People are clicking in and giving their private details and unfortunately there are bank accounts becoming compromised. It is a very lucrative trade.”
Michelle Aylward of County Tipperary Chamber said that education about fraud is needed because simple mistakes can lead to huge amounts of money being lost. Chief Superintendent Smart said people need to realise fraudsters are highly skilled.
He continued: “They are trained to do it. This is their job – to ring you to try and get your bank details, to try and con you out of them as best they can. They are extremely believable.”
He said that if anyone has any suspicions, hang up and call your own bank directly – never use the phone number the caller has contacted you from. He said that the amount of money being lost by consumers in Ireland through fraud is in the millions each year.
Other figures provided at the meeting showed that domestic violence reports rose by 10% in the past year.
Chief Superintendent Smart said that each garda responding to incidents of domestic violence in the Tipperary division will now conduct risk assessments when responding to incidents to establish “the threat level that is posed to the person reporting the incident and that will be reviewed the following morning”.
He said the aim is to ensure that all the correct services and advice is given to victims.
He added: “My advice to anyone would be if you are concerned about anyone in the community, let us know. Let us figure out a way of reaching out to these people and get them the support and help that they need.”
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Smart said that eight probationer gardaí will be assigned to Tipperary division in the new year – although three current gardaí in the division are being transferred to Cork. He said the new members will be assigned across the Tipperary division.
In recent days, the Garda Representative Association’s treasurer, Garda Tom Finnan, highlighted concerns in the about resources in the Tipperary division.