Limerick man scammed after personal details were hacked

Gardai in Bruff have launched an investigation after a man was scammed by online fraudsters who hacked her personal details. 

According to gardai, the man invested in cryptocurrency online and subsequently received an email from what he thought was the cryptocurrency company advising him that his investment had grown considerably.

"They claimed they wanted to make a payment to him. This email was followed up by a phone call and the gentleman was instructed to pay an amount of money into an account, this was a fee he had to pay in order to receive his large pay out," said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch.

"Unfortunately the gentleman did this. When his payment wasn’t made he contacted the cryptocurrency company who hadn’t sent any email or contacted him regarding a pay out," she added.

It was subsquently established that the man's personal details had been hacked and a fake email had been sent to him.

"Pause whenever you are instructed to send money to another account, check the details yourself and don’t rely on emails," said Sgt Leetch.