Bank of Ireland Urgently Warns of 'Safe Account' Scam Amid Surge in Reports

Bank of Ireland (BOI) has sounded the alarm over a sharp increase in reports of an attempted scam that tricks customers into transferring funds to fraudulent "safe accounts." BOI has reminded customers that it will never ask them to move their money to another account to keep it safe.

The scam begins when victims receive a fraudulent text message claiming to be from BOI, alerting them to suspicious activity on their account. These messages often mimic legitimate BOI notifications, warning of unauthorized transactions or compromised account security, such as “Did you login from a new device?” “Do you recognise this transaction?” or “A transaction for [value] to [merchant] was declined and your card has been placed on hold”. 

Recipients are directed to call a listed number, typically appearing as a landline containing 01/1800/ regional codes, where scammers posing as BOI representatives falsely claim that the customer’s account has been compromised.

Victims are then asked whether they have a secondary account, such as Revolut. If so, they are instructed to transfer all funds from their BOI account to their secondary account. Victims are then coerced into transferring their money yet again—this time to a purported "safe account," which is in fact controlled by scammers. 

Crucially, scammers do not ask for direct access to bank accounts or security details, a tactic designed to avoid common red flags associated with fraud.

BOI reported an alarming spike in scam-related reports. Last week, daily scam reports were more than ten times the number recorded weekly in April and May.

Sample fraudulent text messages provided by Bank of Ireland

Customers are strongly advised to ignore suspicious texts, avoid calling unfamiliar phone numbers, and verify any banking concerns directly with their banks.

Investors can Ask a Question on BrokersView for insights into avoiding scams.