Scam artists targeting lucrative SSIA savings

CONSUMERS are being fleeced out of tens of millions of euro by increasingly clever scams and confidence tricks — and some are even legal.

Last year people lost €20 million in one pyramid scheme alone while a handful of Bank of Ireland (BOI) customers had €160,000 refunded after cheats plundered their accounts.

Now consumer champions are warning the public to keep a tight watch on their finances as cheats eye the last of the Government SSIA payouts due this year.

Of all scams in 2006, consumer watchdogs say internet banking fraud increased most as more people go online to pay bills, send money or check their bank balance.

Cheats send out waves of bogus “phishing” emails asking bank customers to log on to a website and confirm their banking details.

Although the websites look like official ones from AIB or BOI, they are used by cheats to gather vital information, which is used to empty victims’ accounts.

The Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO), which represents the banking industry, says “phishing” attacks grew by 20 times this year.

“We might have one attack (round of bogus e-mails) a year but this year we’ve had 20-plus,” said Úna Dillon, of IPSO.

“Banks would be able to stop a lot more before consumers saw them and the banks have been shutting down (rogue) websites within 24 hours of an attack.”

Thanks to chip-and-pin — where consumers paying by card have to key in their PIN number at the till — the amount stolen in card fraud has fallen significantly on the 2005 figure of €13m.

Now thieves are going online where they are using cards obtained by stealing the identities of genuine householders. They intercept mail or sift through household waste to find bills to use as identification.

IPSO plans to introduce new online security questions for consumers buying goods online and from March all cardholders will have to use their PIN at the till instead of signing a slip.

Advance fee frauds — where householders are enticed to send off money to claim lottery winnings or other generous sums — also show no sign of waning.

In a new version sweeping Britain householders are invited to become mystery shoppers and are sent a cheque for £350 (€525).

They are then told to wire £2,500 (€3,725) to Canada via Western Union money transfer and are wrongly assured they will be refunded the balance. The original cheque bounces too.

The National Consumer Agency reckons the scam will hit Ireland in the New Year.

Dublin’s European Consumer Centre advises consumers to ignore offers to join discount holiday clubs, which are a new form of the 1980s timeshare scam.

Consumer champions also reckon legitimate businesses are finding new underhand ways to get money out of consumer’s pockets.

Earlier this year the Financial Regulator revealed Irish tourists were being legally fleeced while using credit cards in Britain and the US.

Holidaymakers using their cards are asked at the shop or restaurant till if they want to pay in the local currency, like sterling, or the euro.

Consumers choose the home currency in the belief they are saving money by avoiding a credit card charge for foreign currency.

But these consumers can inadvertently end up paying 10% more because the shop sets an expensive exchange rate at the till.

The Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI) says banks, mobile phone firms and travel agents are also guilty of persuading customers to take out poor-value insurance policies.

“Consumers either don’t need the cover because they are insured already or the exceptions on the policies make it hard to put in a claim,” said CAI chief executive Dermott Jewell.

“People keep coming out with the phrase ‘rip-off Ireland’ but it’s the reality,” Mr Jewell said.