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      Most Irish people say that scams have become a lot more sophisticated in the past year

      The majority of people also say that scam attempts have increased significantly,

      FOUR OUT OF five people in Ireland believe that scams have become more sophisticated in the past year and are increasingly difficult to identify, according to a new survey.

      Polling carried out by Censuswide also found that nearly half (46%) of Irish people believe scam that awareness should be taught in schools, while 98% think that children should be taught some form of scam awareness from a young age.

      The survey of 2,000 Irish adults was carried out in January 2025 on behalf of the money app Wise.

      It found that the majority of Irish people (77%) believed that scam attempts increased significantly last year, with 82% saying they had become more sophisticated during that time.

      Men reported almost double the amount of average losses (โ‚ฌ2,168.73) to scammers than women (โ‚ฌ1,151.22), and also said they were less likely than women to admit to family members that they have been scammed.

      James Clements, Wiseโ€™s scams and financial fraud expert, said that polling also showed that people could do more to prevent themselves from being defrauded.

      He noted that only a quarter of people have set up fraud alerts with their financial provider or credit card company, while just one in ten people have registered with identity theft monitoring services.

      Last month, Gardaรญ warned the public to be vigilant about โ€œvery highโ€ levels of text message scams.

      They warned that fraudulent text messages were beginning to appear within a previous genuine thread of texts from certain companies and institutions, often urging customers to call phone numbers that are not genuine.

      They also reminded the public to remain wary of texts from unknown senders, and unusual requests that appear in threads of previous genuine texts.

      People have been reminded to never ever click on links in a text and never ring a number contained in a text, or to give away personal data, such as bank details, PINs, passwords, one time codes, PPS number or Eircode, or transfer money.

      Anyone who has been a victim of fraud is advised to change their passwords and PIN codes, report it to their bank as soon as possible and ask the bank to do a recall.

      Gardaรญ have also urged the public to report any suspected incidents of fraud directly to them.

      Ever wondered how disinformation spreads so rapidly โ€“ or who is behind it? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.

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        Mute Michael Kavanagh
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:27 AM

        Excellent thoughtful article as usual.
        I doubt if anyone under 45/50 can appreciate the very basic culinary offerings in the Iteland of not so long ago.
        Resistance to any food seen as โ€˜foreignโ€™ was ingrained in many โ€“ a lot of early package holidaymakers brought tinned beans and peas to spare them having to eat anything local.
        My late father first ate Chinese food at the age of 64 in 1988 โ€“ loved it but still referred to it as โ€˜foreign muckโ€™!

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        Mute Thenaked Goose
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 11:30 AM

        @Michael Kavanagh: Jimmy Rafferty did a poem at Bard of Armagh some years back called โ€˜foreign feedinโ€™- so much rang true โ€“ worth a view https://youtu.be/nAJyljj2q6k

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        Mute DK
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 1:25 PM

        @Michael Kavanagh: Where are you going with your foreign holiday? It was down to Kerry for the week! Iโ€™m a lot younger than 45 too.

        11
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        Mute Lesidees
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:05 AM

        There is surely an article to be written on how and why Italian immigrants to Ireland ran chippers instead of trattorias and pizzerias

        65
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        Mute Deborah Blacoe
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:14 AM

        @Lesidees: the Journal.ie did an article back in 2016 about Italian chippers and in it there is a link to a YouTube video on the history of how the Italians ended up doing that.

        30
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        Mute Deborah Blacoe
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:09 AM

        Thereโ€™s a lot of โ€˜Irishโ€™ food from my childhood which I will never revisit โ€“ tripe and onions, coddle, boiled bacon ribs and โ€˜egg-flipโ€™. I actually didnโ€™t mind the taste of tripe, it was only when I realised what it was, that my own stomach absolutely refused to have anything to do with it again. Coddle and boiled ribs โ€“ it was the smell of them cooking and the pale โ€˜uncookedโ€™ look of them which always got to me. And the morning egg flip โ€“ raw egg beaten and drunk from a glass โ€“ ugh! Having said that, there is a great comfort from the plain meat, potatoes and vegetables which were the staples of childhood meals as I grew up. And in general, those staples are still reared and grown still in Ireland. Always good to support our own farmers.

        39
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        Mute JGD
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:25 AM

        @Deborah Blacoe: I had coddle for the first time a few years ago in the Gravediggers, Glasnevin, and it was amazing. One of the few meals that stayed in my memory.

        21
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        Mute Dermot Byrne
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:29 AM

        @Deborah Blacoe: you canโ€™t beat a good coddle on a cold crap day

        22
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        Mute Deborah Blacoe
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:31 AM

        @JGD: Thatโ€™s brilliant. Itโ€™s always good when food has that impact.Itโ€™s just at this stage is a mental block with me! Canโ€™t go near it.

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        Mute Deborah Blacoe
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:32 AM

        @Dermot Byrne: absolutely if thatโ€™s your fancy! For me, it would be a beef stew.

        7
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        Mute Tony Groome
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 7:36 PM

        @Deborah Blacoe: Coddle is food of the gods!

        1
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        Mute Sequoia
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:52 AM

        I can recall my dad bringing us for a fancy โ€œAmerican Pizzaโ€ in the first Pizza Hut in Ireland in Phibsboro shopping centre (last unit on the right when facing it). It would have been about 1978/9.

        McDonaldโ€™s only had Grafton St & Oโ€™Connell St. at the time. Pickings were slim for โ€œexoticโ€ American eateries.

        Being a kid, I had the ham & pineapple โ€“ no tomato sauce

        29
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        Mute Aido
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 3:00 PM

        @Sequoia: Pineapple? You need help

        9
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        Mute Luke Lee
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 8:40 AM

        Whatโ€™s the Irish for โ€˜I had a spice bag last night and now my arse is burningโ€™?

        57
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        Mute John kane
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:00 AM

        @Luke Lee: bhรญ spice bag agam areir, anois, tรก mo hรณin ar tine

        150
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        Mute Joe Brennan
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:00 AM

        @Luke Lee: Bhรญ mรกla spice agam arรฉir agus tรก mo thรณin ag dhรณ

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        Mute Niall Bourke
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:02 AM

        @Luke Lee: Bhรญ mรกla spรญosraรญ agam arรฉir agus anois tรก mo poll trรญ thine.

        53
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        Mute Paraic
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:05 AM

        @Luke Lee: Dโ€™ith mรฉ mรกla spice arรฉir agus tรก ring sting agam inniu.

        66
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        Mute Cormac Laffan
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 9:40 AM

        @Luke Lee: Jaysus, me ringโ€™s on fire!!

        20
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        Mute John Considine
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 10:20 AM

        @Luke Lee: nรญl aon tรณn tinn mar do thรณn tinn fรฉin.

        61
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        Mute Des Groome
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 1:50 PM

        I had my first Pizza in the bad ass cafe in 1984 when I was 14 :-) so cosmopolitan :-)

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        Mute Deborah Blacoe
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        Feb 23rd 2020, 2:34 PM

        @Des Groome: So bad ass!

        7
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