AT LEAST FOUR in five people have been targeted by bank fraudsters last year, according to new research published today.

In the last year, fraud losses on credit and debit cards amounted to 22 million, according to industry data compiled by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. 

According to the research, four in five people have either received a text, a call or an email that they believed to be fraudulent.

It also shows that customers who were over the age of 55 were more likely to be targeted, with 85% saying that they had received a fraudulent communication last year.

Younger customers were not left out, however, with 80% of people aged 18 to 34 saying they had been targeted by fraudsters.

AIB, who commissioned the research from Amarach, saw their customers subject to “smishing” fraud attacks last month.

The fraud wasn’t just subject to banking officials, with 30% of respondents saying they had been contacted by someone alleging to be with a technology company, while 22% said that they had been contacted by someone claiming to be a Revenue Commissioner.

98% of people though do not respond to any of the communication, of which 63% ignored entirely. 16% of people reported it to the bank, while 11% consulted with a relative or family member to check if it was real.

Sean Jevens, Head of Digital Engagement at AIB said that fraudsters have seized onto the rise of online shopping and are using it as an opportunity to defraud people.

“The data shows an increase in activity by fraudsters trying to steal people’s money, which has seen four in five adults receiving either a text, call or email which was not genuine in the past year,” said Jevens.

“As fraudsters are using sophisticated new ways to scam customers and steal their money, some people are still falling for fraud and customers still need to be vigilant.”

People can follow simple steps to ensure they are not the victim of fraud, including not clicking any links that may appear to come from their bank, hanging up on any calls they think are not genuine and ringing back a number only after checking it aligns with the number on the organisation’s website.