According to local press reports citing authorities, fraudsters targeting victims in Ireland are increasingly disguising themselves as bank representatives rather than cryptocurrency marketers. Irish investors have lost millions of euros this year to these types of schemes as a result of the rising trend, with law enforcement only recovering a small portion.
Criminals prefer banking scams over cryptocurrency fraud.
In place of cryptocurrency frauds, con artists are now impersonating legitimate traditional banks, according to a story published in the Irish Independent. Numerous incidents of fraud involving investments in fiat currency are being investigated.
In these online fraud operations, Irish residents have lost close to €20 million (over $21 million) since January, of which police from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) have been able to recover close to €4 million.
Crypto scams were formerly the most common form of investment fraud, making up over 95% of the cases that were reported, according to investigators. According to a police source who was cited by the newspaper:
In the recent months, it has been increasingly frequent for victims to get phone calls or emails from scam artists posing as representatives of reputable, well-known British banks or trading firms.
The person continued, "So inevitably the organized gangs behind this are changing tack and the evidence is that the banking scams are the way they are making the most money now in terms of investment fraud, which is absolutely massive at the moment." Meanwhile, cryptocurrency has lost some of its appeal to investors as a result of significant scandals and legal disputes.
The perpetrators of banking fraud schemes frequently create phony websites that offer investment goods or copy legitimate online platforms. Victims are under urged to take immediate action, send money urgently, transfer money immediately, or download software that drains their bank accounts.
Ireland is a member of a global law enforcement operation run by Interpol that netted 975 people globally last year, recovered more than €123 million, and shut down nearly 2,800 bank and cryptocurrency accounts linked to online financial crime.
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