Can you spot a scam artist?

What are investment scams?

Investment scams arise when you are offered an exciting “investment opportunity” promising a good return on your money for very little risk. The investment could be in anything from shares or bonds to cryptocurrency. In reality, there is no investment opportunity and the scam artist simply wants you to transfer your savings to them.

How do investment scams work?

You are contacted by a “firm” offering you an investment opportunity to make a good return on your savings. Or you may be researching investment opportunities online and stumble across the scam artist’s website.

The scam artist may pose as a legitimate firm and their website may be virtually indistinguishable from a genuine firm’s website – this is what’s called a “cloned” firm/website. The fraudster might say that the opportunity is only available for a limited time and that you need to invest quickly in order to take advantage of it. The scam works by getting you to transfer your money directly to the scam artist.

How can you protect yourself from investment scams?

• Always get independent financial advice before investing your money.
• Be wary of unexpected investment opportunity offers.
• Be suspicious of any investment promising guaranteed returns or large profits.
• Make enquiries about the firm that is engaging with you.
• Check the firm’s regulatory status using Central Bank of Ireland’s register of authorised firms. But remember, scam artists often impersonate legitimate firms so, if you find the firm listed on the register, you should still do additional checks.
• Do not provide personal information about yourself or agree to send money until you are absolutely sure the firm is genuine.

What are loan scams?

Loan scams target people looking for cash loans. This type of scam is a form of “advance fee fraud” where you are offered a cash loan but only after you pay an upfront fee or administration charge.

How do loan scams work?

You apply for, or are offered, a cash loan through a website, with the promise it will be processed quickly. The website may state that you don’t need to have a good credit rating, or to provide much documentation apart from basic personal details, in order to be approved. The firm may claim to be regulated by Central Bank of Ireland. After you submit your application, you receive a call, text or email telling you that your loan application has been approved, with details of the amount of the loan and the monthly repayment. However, before the money can be issued, you will be asked to pay a fee upfront. The scammer may say the fee is an administration charge or some other type of fee that is necessary to “release” the money. In reality, the loan doesn’t exist and you end up scammed out of the fee.

How can you protect yourself from loan scams?

Beware of cash loan offers from firms that:

• Try to push you into making a quick decision
• Say there will be no credit checks
• Promise to give you a loan even if you have a bad credit rating
• Ask for a fee upfront to release the loan funds.

Credit providers that are regulated by the Central Bank are not allowed to charge any administration fees if you are applying for a loan. If you are asked to pay a fee, do not use that provider as it is likely to be a scam.

 

What are phishing, smishing and vishing scams?

Phishing, smishing and vishing are amongst the most common techniques used by scam artists. The scam artists use emails, text messages, or phone calls to trick you into giving them valuable personal information such as your online banking passwords, credit card details or PPS number.  

How do phishing, smishing and vishing scams work?

Phishing occurs when scam artists send emails – that appear to be from legitimate sources – to trick you into giving up personal data, such as login details or credit card information.   

Smishing occurs when you receive text messages that look to be legitimate, such as from Revenue, An Post, or your bank.  Scam artists use these fraudulent text messages to trick you into revealing personal or financial information or to get you to click malicious links.

Vishing, short for voice phishing, refers to fraudulent phone calls or voice messages designed to trick you into providing sensitive information, like login credentials, credit card numbers, or bank details.

These attempts can be difficult to spot and may even appear within a genuine “thread” of text messages you may have received from a legitimate organisation. The message may say your account has been compromised and you need to reset your password. Or it may say that you need to pay a customs charge for an item you’ve ordered online to be delivered. The aim of the scams is to get you to provide your online banking details, credit card information or other personal financial information. The scam artist then uses this information to access your account and steal your money.

How can you protect yourself from phishing, smishing and vishing scams?

• Be suspicious of text messages received out of the blue that claim to come from a reputable organisation, such as your bank or credit/debit card issuer, An Post or Revenue.
• Do not respond to texts, emails or phone calls requesting personal information such as your bank account details or other passwords.
• Do not call any phone number or click on any link embedded within a text message.
• Be cautious of messages that prompt you to visit a website to resolve an issue or verify your details urgently.
• Only reset your online passwords if you initiated the reset.

What are fake comparison website scams? 

Scam artists use fake comparison websites to collect your personal and financial details. Using the information you have provided, they then contact you with offers for fake investments, often impersonating legitimate banks or firms. 

How do fake comparison website scams work?

Price comparison websites have grown in popularity in recent years. They are used by people to try to get better value when buying insurance, financial services, utilities other products.

Fake comparison websites seek to collect your personal information for financial fraud or to steal your payment details. Scam artists create convincing but fake comparison websites designed to capture your contact and personal information for fraudulent purposes. They will use your information to contact you and try to sell you a financial product or service that does not exist.  People are more susceptible to buying these non-existent products because they are expecting to be contacted after providing their contact details on a fake comparison website.  Therefore they might not conduct any additional verification checks after being contacted.   

How can you protect yourself from fake comparison website scams?

• Only use well-known and reputable comparison websites, or go directly to the official websites of vendors of the financial services/products you are interested in.
• If an offer seems too good to be true, even on what appears to be a legitimate website, it is probably a scam.

• Check the domain's creation date to see if it aligns with the firm’s claimed history. A new domain for an established firm is suspicious.

What are deepfake scams?

Scam artists use fake videos, imagery, or audio that look or sound real because they are made by AI. They use these – usually on social media platforms – to pretend to be someone you might trust (e.g. a business leader or celebrity) so that they can trick you into sending them money or personal information.

How do deepfake scams work?

Scam artists may use social media ads to impersonate a real person and – through this fake doppelganger – encourage you to join an investment advice group (on platforms like WhatsApp).  

They may then connect you with an investment “mentor” or “coach” who provides trading tips or recommendations on what stocks to purchase. The groups will include large numbers of fake profiles, which all speak to their success following the mentor’s investment advice.

A group mentor might recommend specific low-value shares promising high returns. This is a “pump-and-dump scheme” where the scam artists actually control large volumes of those shares. They co-ordinate victims’ investments to artificially inflate (or “pump”) the share price. They then sell (or “dump”) their shares at a profit. When the share price collapses, victims are left with significant losses.

Alternatively, the mentor might introduce and recommend a particular investment platform. The mentor will coach you through the process of setting up an account and transferring funds, often via cryptocurrency. When you try to withdraw your investment, you will be told you need to pay a fee before funds can be released. Whether you pay the fee or not, no money will be returned.

The mentor may also instruct you to install software on your devices. This is malware or remote access software, which will give the scam artists access to your sensitive personal information.

How can you protect yourself from deepfake scams?

• Examine videos/images/audio closely. Deepfake videos may have unnatural facial movements, lip-sync errors, or facial gestures that appear robotic or exaggerated.
• Check the source of  videos you watch on social media: only trust content published by reliable sources. Be wary of social media accounts that are new, have few followers, or repost lots of content.
• Enquire about the firm that is engaging with you before transferring money or providing personal information. 

What are fraudulent recovery schemes?

A fraudulent recovery scheme involves scam artists contacting victims of fraud and claiming they can help recover lost funds for an upfront fee. These fraudsters often using fake documents or impersonate officials, and their real objective is to steal more of your money.

How do fraudulent recovery schemes work?

Scam artists specifically target people who have already fallen victim to a scam and lost money. They reach out through phone calls, emails, or social media, promising to recover the lost funds. They will ask for an upfront fee, and potentially sensitive personal or financial information, to “pursue” the funds or "process" the recovery. These fraudsters will often impersonate real organisations or officials, sometimes using fake documents, to appear legitimate. This second scam is designed to exploit victims' desperation, often leading to more financial loss.

How can you protect yourself from fraudulent recovery schemes?

• Be sceptical of any unsolicited contact: ignore cold calls, texts, emails, or social media messages from anyone claiming to help you to recover lost money.
• Never pay fees for refunds, be cautious about sharing personal information, and report any suspicious contact to your bank, the Central Bank, or the Gardai.
• Protect personal information: Do not share your bank account details, credit card information, or other personal details with callers.
• Be cautious about social media: avoid posting details about being a victim of a scam, as this can attract recovery scammers.

What is this firm offering? Who is contacting me? Where did they get my contact details? Who are they? Do I feel rushed to provide personal or financial information? Remember, there is no short-term advantage to making quick decisions on your longer-term financial wellbeing.

Check Central Bank of Ireland’s registers to see if the firm is authorised. Even if the firm appears to be authorised, you should still make sure it is genuine. It’s common for scam artists to pretend to be genuine by “cloning” the appearance of an authorised firm and copying some or all information related to that firm. Check for any irregularities such as misspellings and grammatical errors in the firm’s website, emails or paperwork. Call the firm using its publicly advertised phone number.

Seek advice to ensure the service or product is genuine. Never provide your personal information or agree to send money unless you are satisfied that the firm is authorised and genuine. Ask yourself:

• Is the financial service or product I am being offered from trusted sources?
• Is this a genuine financial product? 
• Do I need this product?
• Are the returns high? Does firm say it will cover all of my capital investment so I don’t lose anything?
• Does it seem too good to be true? If yes, then its most likely a Scam.

If you are looking for a loan and you are asked for an upfront fee, you should immediately stop engaging with the firm as it’s a scam.

If you have any concerns that a firm is not genuine or is not authorised to sell financial products, we want to hear from you. We have powers to investigate and take action against these fraudsters. We are here to support and protect you and we work closely with the Gardaí to stop and prevent financial criminals from taking advantage of our loved ones and us. You can make your report to us directly on our website or by phoning us on lo-call 0818 681 681 or landline +353(0)1 224 5800.

Remember, if you engage with an unauthorised firm, you lose important protections designed to look after you if things go wrong. For example, you are not able to make a claim under the Investor Compensation Scheme, and the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman will not be able to help you with your complaint. This means you are unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong.