‘One minute I was doing boring housekeeping – the next I'd been scammed out of €1,200 by a man in Kenya’

Like most bad things, fraud happens quickly. One minute I was doing chores and boring admin, the next, a man in Kenya took €1,200 out of my account.

This was no ‘Nigerian Prince’ with $10m in a sports bag. This was a ‘real’ call centre employee from Swiss International Air Lines – my favourite airline.

I had been scheduled to take a flight bound for Geneva for a one-day mountaineering trip to Chamonix. It was cancelled and so my trip wasn’t to be.

In the hope of being reimbursed for miscellaneous costs incurred, I tagged the airline on Twitter.

This turned out to be a terrible mistake. A fake Swiss account sent me a personal message to inform me I would be getting contacted via WhatsApp.

Within moments, I was chatting to a man I believed was in the Philippines, where Swiss International Air Lines has its call centre. He told me to download an app called Remitly and create an account in my name. Remitly is an American online remittance service, which offers international money transfers. I was to be reimbursed immediately.

It sounded too good to be true. Before I knew it, two payments – one of more than €400 and one of more €700 went out of my account. Just over €1,200 was gone in a flash. The man was on the phone the entire time and even called me back with a fake group chat and a non-existent supervisor.

Needless to say, there were red flags, but like anyone else on a school day, I was distracted by family commitments, work and life. I had just been paid, so I was paying for things online and this was a continuation of humdrum housekeeping stuff. I also thought I was dealing with a reputable company and wasn’t expecting to be scammed.

While I was having a meltdown, I frantically tried to contact my bank, AIB. I also called Remitly, which said there was nothing it could do. I traced the number I had been conned by to a Sim from Safaricom, the Kenyan phone company.

It had been locked just moments before. I froze my cards on my phone, even though the money had already gone.

When I reached someone at my bank, they were very understanding and informed me it would take a few days for the fraud team to sort this out. I also sent a detailed email to the Federal Trade Commission and informed the airline, which is obviously not responsible for this kind of scam.

I also felt stupid for being conned, but Niamh Davenport, head of financial crime with the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), says this kind of scam can happen to anyone. “Fraud is ever evolving and becoming more and more sophisticated. Anyone can be a victim of fraud. Fraudsters target busy people who are tech savvy and very often trying to get money from a legitimate source.”

Ms Davenport says she has not come across this particular fake airline call centre fraud, but fraudsters pretending to be legitimate companies and targeting ‘clients’ is popular. “Authorised push payment fraud (APP) occurs when a person is tricked into willingly transferring funds directly into a fraudster’s account.”

A report published by Fraudsmart, which was created by the BPFI to help combat fraud, found that fraudsters stole nearly €85m in 2022, with APP fraud costing consumers €9.9m. Fraud costs the global economy €5trn and rising annually, according to Crowe risk consulting.

Because APP is reviewed case-by-case there are no provisions obliging refunds but, thankfully, after a few days of me on edge, my bank reimbursed me. I was beyond thrilled.

That said, my details could be sold on the dark web and I could be a target for further fraud attempts.

According to Ms Davenport, often the fraudsters are organised gangs, and the people calling you are trafficked and holed up in makeshift office blocks against their will. They don’t even get your money.

“Money stolen through APP scams is used to fund drug-trafficking, human-trafficking, sexual exploitation and terrorism,” she says.

Ms Davenport says combating fraud requires a centrally led, “whole of system” response from the State, An Garda Síochána and financial organisations. But we can also help by being vigilant and educated.

“Take your time. Check out what scams are out there from Fraudsmart and your bank. Always double-check before clicking links or attachments in random or unexpected emails or texts and never give away security details such as Pins or passwords to anyone.

“Once someone asks you to download an app, open an account or make a money transfer, you’re being scammed.

“Irish people are generally suspicious, except when it comes to money. We need to be more suspicious in our financial life too. Trust your gut and remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Although I was scammed, I’m glad it happened, because it has given me an opportunity to highlight the scams involving reputable companies and create awareness.

For more information go to www.fraudsmart.ie and check out your bank’s website for new scams.