Bank of Ireland received 10,000 calls to fraud team over Christmas week

The bank received 2,375 calls on December 22 alone

Nicola Sadlier, Bank of Ireland head of fraud. The company's fraud team dealt with 10,000 calls over Christmas week. Picture: Naoise Culhane 

Bank of Ireland received over 10,000 calls from customers to their fraud support team over Christmas week, with calls peaking from worried customers peaking just before Christmas Day.

The bank's prevention team handled over  400 customer calls on Christmas day but the busiest day for customer calls to the fraud team was December 22, with 2,375 calls received, followed by December 23 (1,985 calls), with over 800 calls received on St Stephen’s Day. 

New Year’s Eve also proved to be busy for the fraud prevention team with over 1,650 calls.

In the week before Christmas, the bank sent a warning customers about social media advertisements impersonating well-known retailers offering deals and bargains. The Irish Examiner also highlighted an influx of AI-generated adverts producing fraudulent and misleading products on TikTok, with many promoting the use of weight loss supplements and appetite suppression.

“Fraudsters see the Christmas season as an opportunity to exploit consumers, and we’re seeing many fake adverts currently which are impersonating well known retailers," said Bank of Ireland head of fraud Nicola Sadlier.