Bank of Ireland’s latest fraud campaign is warning people to be wary of being significantly overcharged when making card payments in person.
It said the scam typically involves a customer being told one amount verbally, but a much higher amount being entered on the card terminal.
The bank is encouraging people to slow down and not be distracted for the few time it takes to check the amount before you tap or enter your PIN.
They say they have had an increase reports of people being significantly overcharged at the point of payment which often happens in busy or high pressure environments.
The campaign is urging people “think before you tap”.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland Nicola SadIier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland, said the bank is seeing higher incidents of customer reporting being rushed and being charged a higher amount at the point of sale.
“It’s busy environments, customers are distracted and fraudsters are preying on that,” warned Ms Sadlier.
She advises people to really stay in control of the situation when paying for goods and services.
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“Customers should validate the amount they’re seeing input on that screen before they tap their card or insert their card and PIN,” she said.
“We’re trying to prevent it from the outset, so we’d like you to check that terminal point of sale, but Bank of Ireland are available 24-7 so give us a call and we’ll get on the matter right away.
“We want to avoid this happening for customers and particularly coming up to the summer season in different countries with perhaps different currencies, just take a little bit of extra time.”
The key points BOI is making to help customer protect themselves:
– Always check the amount shown on the card terminal before tapping or entering your PIN
– Be cautious if you feel rushed or pressured into making a payment quickly
– Avoid handing your card to anyone else to complete a transaction
– Enable card transaction alerts so you can spot unexpected charges instantly
– Review your bank statements regularly and report anything unusual immediately.
