Bank of Ireland has issued a fresh warning to Irish consumers as fraudsters continue to target online shoppers amid the Black Friday discounts frenzy.
The bank repeated recent industry calls on people to be vigilant after a snapshot of its consumer debit and credit card spending from November 1st-10th showed an increase of 24 per cent in total online spending compared to the same period in 2020.
The year-on-year increase among younger consumers has been even more “dramatic”, its figures suggest. Spending online during this period increased 184 per cent among teenagers, with a 40 per cent increase in online spending among 18-25 year olds.
“This increase in online transactions has multiplied opportunities for fraud,” aid Bank of Ireland head of fraud Edel McDermott.
Advice to parents
“We are seeing a dramatic rise of 184 per cent in spending online among teenagers. That’s why we are strongly advising parents to check in with teens and younger members of their household to ensure they are shopping online securely, and are aware of the simple steps they can take to avoid fraudsters’ tactics to gain access to their banking information as they are shopping online.”
Ms McDermott said the tendency of people to be busy and distracted at this time of year, together with the surge in attempted fraud using links to fake websites and bogus offers, was “a dangerous combo”.
