Scams have become a routine part of life for Irish consumers, with 85% reporting that they encountered suspicious calls, text messages, emails or online content at least once a month.
The figure comes from new research by FraudSmart, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), which published the findings as it launched a new campaign warning about the growing use of social engineering by fraudsters.
More than half of respondents (51%) said they had encountered more suspicious communications than at the same time last year.
Mobile phone calls were the most common form of suspicious contact, reported by 61% of respondents, followed by text messages at 58% and emails at 51%.
The research also highlighted the increasing difficulty of distinguishing genuine communications from fraudulent ones. One in four respondents said they had encountered calls, texts or emails that appeared to have been generated artificially or by AI.
Unknown numbers were the most common reason people became suspicious of phone calls, cited by 48% of respondents. For text messages, 46% pointed to an unrecognised number, while 39% said they were suspicious because they had not been expecting the message.
Unknown senders were the leading warning sign for suspicious emails, cited by 39%, followed by poorly written content at 36% and unexpected emails at 32%.
Despite widespread awareness of suspicious communications, some consumers were still taking risks. One in ten respondents said they had clicked on a link in a text or email before realising it was suspicious.
Only 15% of people who had received suspicious texts or emails said they checked whether the company or website mentioned in the communication was legitimate.
The research found that consumers were generally more likely to ignore, delete or block suspicious communications than investigate them.
Two-thirds of respondents who received suspicious e-mails said they ignored or deleted them, although only 44% said they blocked the relevant email address.
Niamh Davenport, head of financial crime at BPFI, said the frequency of suspicious communications showed how heavily consumers were being targeted.
“Social engineering lies behind many of the scams we see today, with fraudsters manipulating people into taking actions such as clicking a link or transferring money,” she said. “They often exploit emotions such as fear and sympathy and may spend time building trust. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and fraudulent communications.”
Scammers could also impersonate trusted brands, while AI was making it easier to produce convincing fraudulent content at scale.
Davenport said it was positive that many consumers were already ignoring, deleting or blocking suspicious messages, but warned that the number of people clicking links before recognising a scam remained a concern.
She advised consumers to check companies and websites independently through official websites, apps or trusted phone numbers rather than links contained in unexpected communications.
FraudSmart advised users to visit Scamchecker.ie to check suspicious websites and links.
Patryk Goron
Ltd
