Pádraig Hoare: Why the sudden increase in scam calls and texts? 

There are many facets to the fraudulent activity, many variations, but all are insidious

Robocalls can dial various numbers millions of times a day, over and over again, at little cost to the scammers. 

They have been almost as ubiquitous as Covid-19, working from home, and social distancing — the scourge of the scam call.

Barely a week goes by when a number we don’t recognise flashes up on our phones, giving that one-second window of doubt and confusion — should we answer this one, for it may be something important, or is it yet another phantom call, designed to extract money?