AIB HAS WARNED of an increase in the number of scams where customers are visited by a taxi driver or courier supposedly sent by the bank to collect their card.

The bank said it is also aware of instances in recent days where scammers gave instructions to leave cards under front door mats for collection.

It is warning customers to “remain vigilant” as instances of the scam increase.

The scam involves a customer receiving a fraudulent text claiming to be from a bank, a utility company or another business containing a link to click.

Customers believe the text is genuine and provide personal, login and card details to the fraudulent site.

They then receive a follow-up call from someone claiming to be from their bank and are told their card is compromised and needs to be collected.

In some cases, they are also told to include their PIN.

After this, a taxi driver or courier then arrives to their address and collects their card. On occasion, multiple bank cards have been collected, and some customers believed the person who came to the door was a legitimate bank staff member.

The stolen card is then used for ATM withdrawals or payment fraud.

“Fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, and we have seen an increase in the number of cases of this kind of taxi or courier scam in recent weeks,” AIB’s Head of Financial Crime Mary McHale said.

“AIB will never ask customers to hand over their bank card or their bank PIN to anyone and we urge customers to end any conversation where someone purporting to be from their bank asks them to do so.”

McHale said the scams can be very sophisticated and criminals go to great lengths to defraud people.

“It’s particularly distressing for customers to be visited in person by someone pretending to be from a bank. In some cases, legitimate taxi drivers or couriers have been unwittingly involved,” she said.

“We are aware of instances where these drivers have refused to accept the bank cards and we thank those drivers for their vigilance.”

AIB said that where customers have been scammed, it will deal sympathetically with them on a case-by-case basis. 

The bank advised customers to keep the phrase ‘don’t click on the link’ in their minds and to ask themselves if something is legitimate before reacting to a call or message. 

It said customers should end any conversation where someone asks them to give them their card or hand it over to a taxi or courier or leave it out for collection. AIB will never ask customers to do that.

AIB said customers should make themselves aware of current fraud threats by regularly checking their bank’s security centre on their website.

Customers should not call any number provided in a text or email message, and search and confirm the phone number using the bank’s website.

“You can also ensure any website you use is secure and genuine by checking for the padlock symbol to the left of the web address. If it’s not there, beware,” the bank said.

Customers who think they have been a victim of fraud should contact their bank immediately and report it to Gardaí.