PERMANENT TSB HAS confirmed that “an ongoing fraud incident” has led to a “significant” volume of calls to its fraud helpline.  

A number of customers have been contacting the bank’s customer service team through social media channels to raise concerns over potential fraudulent activity on their account. 

Several of the customers who contacted the bank have said they noticed multiple transactions for €9.99 on their account for the Microsoft Store that they were not aware of.

In response to several of the concerns, Permanent TSB’s customer care team has said on Twitter that the bank is dealing with “an ongoing fraud incident” connected to Microsoft. 

The incident is not understood to be of a different order to common incidents of potential fraud.  

Customers are however being made aware of “significant” wait times on the bank’s fraud helpline due to the incident. 

“Apologies for the long hold times, the fraud team are experiencing a high volume of calls due to an ongoing fraud incident with Microsoft. Wait times are currently anywhere from 20 to 50+ minutes. The team are working as fast as possible to answer queries,” the customer care team said in response to one tweet. 

In another tweet, the bank said: “The fraud team are working as quickly as possible to answer calls. However, due to an ongoing fraud incident, there may be a significant wait to reach them. In the meantime, you can cancel your debit card, if necessary, through our website.”

Several customers have complained about being on hold on the helpline and having called up multiple times.

I am on hold for the 7th time
At this stage I have been holding over 2 hours!!
When will my call be answered?????

— Yvonne (@Yvonne62360159) September 26, 2021

In response to queries from The Journal, a spokesperson for Permanent TSB confirmed that there has been pressure on the bank’s fraud helpline after customers were made aware of potential fraudulent activity. 

“Our systems proactively contact customers when there is any suspected fraud activity on their account. As a result, we experienced an increase in calls to our fraud line yesterday. We continue to take steps to guard customers against such activity and to raise awareness amongst customers of these efforts. We apologise to customers for any delays experienced,” the spokesperson said.