Gardaí warn the public about fraudsters posing as Revenue officers

Gardaí are warning people about the latest fraud scam involving criminals pretending to be from the Revenue Commissioners and seeking bank account details.

The criminals are ringing individuals to tell them they are owed money by Revenue and asking for various bank details in order to purportedly lodge the refund.

But once the details are handed over, the criminals use the account either to take out all the funds, use it to launder criminal proceeds or engage in some form of identity theft.

Revenue also released an alert recently warning that, as well as the scam regarding a purported tax refund, that people were also getting calls that a tax bill had to be paid or that a criminal case was being taken against them.

Gardaí said they had received a number of reports about the scam.

“They are ringing people to tell them, 'this is Jack from Revenue, you are owed €150 and we need to put it into your account, can you give us your bank account details',” said a garda source.

This is a phishing attack and they want to get into your account to clear it out, or use it for another purpose or for identity theft.

Gardaí said the message is to “never give your bank details” to anyone purporting to be from the bank, or Revenue, or to ring these institutions first to check.

Revenue issued a statement last week about the scam: “Revenue has become aware of a number of individuals who received phone calls from a person purporting to work in Revenue advising that a tax refund is due, demanding the immediate payment of a tax bill or stating that a criminal case is being taken against the individual. This person is not calling from Revenue.”

It said: “If you receive a telephone call purporting to be from Revenue about which you have any doubts, particularly if the call is unexpected, you should contact your Revenue Office. If you receive contact demanding payment of tax about which you have any doubt, you should contact our Collector General's Division (01 738 36 63).”

“Anyone who mistakenly provides personal information in response to these types of fraudulent phone calls should contact their bank or credit card company immediately and alert the gardaí.

“It is important to point out that these types of scams in no way involve Revenue’s systems or security.”