Gardai is investigating a convincing new phone scam in which calls to an Irish number urge people to switch banks

GARDAI is investigating a new convincing phone scam that has people being called to an Irish mobile number with an operator urging them to switch banks.

Police have been alerted to the scam in recent weeks when people received calls from an Irish number with someone claiming to be a bank operator for a commercial enterprise.

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The operator warns people that it is not trying to sell them anything, but rather informs them of the possibility of switching bank operators to save money.

The scam is designed to get people to hand over their banking details over the phone with gardai fearing it’s more convincing than previous automated voice scams.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana told the Irish Sun they were investigating a new manifestation of the phone scam and the persistent attempts of the scam to target individuals.

Gardai has offered seven tips for the public to help them avoid falling victim to a phone scam.

Gardai is warning people to never send money to a third party unless you trust them, to exercise caution when avenues for contacting third parties are limited and push for answers directly. Continue but withdraw immediately if the answer is ambiguous.

The advice also urges the public to be wary of unsolicited contacts or where contacts appear to be based in other jurisdictions.

Gardai also warns people to never give out personal, financial or confidential information to someone you don’t know, and advises that “If that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

‘FRICK OPERATION’

Gardai also advises people to “do your research and not accept something as true until you are satisfied with it that it is.”

An Garda Siochana spokesperson said: “An Garda Síochána will remind the public to be aware of fraud and maintain good practices at all times when making online payments for 3^rd party.

“A Garda Síochána would urge any person who is a victim of fraudulent activity to report this crime at your local Garda Station.”