Wexford County Council has issued an urgent warning to alert the public to a “scam text message” currently in circulation claiming that recipients have an outstanding traffic fine requiring payment.
This fresh warning has come after it was revealed last week that scammers cost adults in Ireland an estimated €760m last year, with more than one in five people making at least one payment after believing a fraudulent message was genuine.
Those who got scammed lost an average of €890 over the course of the year, according to new research from services and cybersecurity firm Ekco.
Some 22pc of adults made at least one payment to a scammer, while 15pc made two or more payments during the year.
The research found that scam attempts were widespread, with 96pc of the 1,000 adults surveyed encountering a scam or phishing attempt.
Wexford County Council have said that this message is “not genuine” and have advised people who receive it not click on any links, provide personal information or make any payments in response to suspicious messages. And that they should report it to Gardaí.