Vulnerable elderly Limerick woman scammed by person posing as daughter
GARDAI in Limerick are investigating after an elderly woman handed over money to a scammer posing as her daughter.
The elderly woman was contacted by a scammer on her mobile phone, the person was pretending to be her daughter.
The woman was vulnerable and has a medical condition which means she is on heavy medication.
The scammer said that she urgently needed funds to pay for a bill that had come due. She asked for a loan of funds to meet this bill.
The elderly woman was convinced that it was her daughter on the phone. She made immediate arrangements to transfer funds to a bank account that she understood was her daughter's.
The funds were paid over to what was unfortunately the bank account of the scammer and the funds were never seen again.
Gardai at Henry Street garda station are investigating the incident.
Garda John Finnerty, Henry Street garda station said: "We would like to issue a warning to everyone not to transfer funds to anyone in a hurry under any circumstances.
"There are very few circumstances in life that require immediate payment of a large amount of funds at short notice.
"When you do transfer funds to a third party be very confident that it is a bone fide reason, that the recipient is bone fide and that you have all the correct bank details."