Lucky escape for Limerick homeowner targeted by fraudsters in elaborate scam

A LIMERICK homeowner who was targeted as part of an elaborate scam narrowly avoided having his personal information hacked.

The man, who lives in the Adare area, was targeted recently after he ordered a new router from his broadband provider.

"He was given an expected delivery date and on that date he received a call from a man claiming to be a broadband operative
and he had specific knowledge of the order for the router. As the homeowner was at work, he asked the caller to call him on the following day," said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch.

The caller made contact the following day, as requested, using what appeared to be a Belgian phone number.

"The caller explained this by saying he was using an internet line. The man accepted the legitimacy of this caller and believed him to be from the broadband company because of the specific detail the caller had on his initial order. The man was asked to run a speed test on the phone line via the computer and following this he was asked to install a program on his computer called 'Anydesk' to help with the setup of the new router," explained Sgt leetch.

At this point, the intended target became suspicious and he hung up before completing the installation. He then contacted his broadband company which confirmed the caller had nothing to do with it.

"There was a point during the process whereby the man would have granted the caller access to his computer and online banking had he clicked the next button," said Sgt Leetch who said the homeowner was 'bombarded' with more than 100 phone calls over the next three hours.

"I think this scam shows how clever these fraudsters can be but we must remember that we are still in control because we still have to let them in so don’t click on a link within an email, don’t give any personal details over the phone and don’t follow instructions unless you have verified that you are connected to a legitimate company," warned Sgt Leetch.

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