Consumers have been warned to be on high alert for unusual scams this winter. Fraudsters will stop at nothing to try and trick people into parting with their money and they are constantly coming up with new ways of doing it.
This winter especially fraudsters are expected to target people in Ireland this winter with energy related scams via texts, emails and calls as they pretend to be their energy company in order to scam them.
In the UK consumer website Which? issued a warning to people saying they could be targeted by fraudsters who are always on the lookout for new ways to part people from their hard-earned cash, adding that the energy crisis is no exception.
Darragh Cassidy from consumer website Bonkers.ie says consumers in Ireland should also be on the lookout for energy related fraudsters targeting them.
“Unfortunately we always need to be on the lookout for financial scams these days. Every year the fraudsters get more clever and cunning it seems and there is a fear that fraudsters will prey on people’s anxiety around energy costs this winter,” says Mr Cassidy.
Mr Cassidy says that given that the Government is automatically paying the energy credit this winter could help to benefit fraudsters.
“Like last time, the money will be credited automatically onto people’s electricity bills. It won’t be deposited into people’s current accounts or paid out in cash or have to be claimed in any way,” he says.
He says this method of paying the credit could work in…
