'We couldn't resist' - Gardaí troll scammer looking for money in hilarious text exchange
Gardaí have said that while this scam may seem obvious to some it is still catching people out
Gardaí in Kilkenny said the "couldn't resist" playing along with texts from a scammer pretending to be someone's son that was in desperate need of money.
In a post shared on social media this week, Gardaí shared the humorous but eye-opening text exchange that is still catching people out.
The post was captioned,
"One of lads received this now familiar scam that is still doing the rounds but obviously still catching people out. We couldn't resist playing along for a bit. We've covered this scam before but no harm in a refresher."
The well known "Hi Mum/Hi Dad" texts have been doing the rounds for quite some time now which sees scammers targeting someone's phone claiming to be their child who needs money while promising to pay them back in a "day or two".
One member of An Garda Síochána in Kilkenny decided to play the scammer at his own game and joked about things such as "silage season" and asking them "how the scam was going".
After numerous attempts to try and get a photo of the bank account detail, the scammer was quickly caught out when the Garda sent them a photo of their badge. The scammer wrote back "cute" while the Garda responded "criminal".
The post quickly gained attention online, with hundreds reacting and sharing the warning as Gardaí reminded the public that despite repeated warnings, the scam is still successfully catching people out.
Gardaí are urging people to remain cautious if they receive unexpected texts from unknown numbers claiming to be a family member.
They advise,
- Never send money without verifying the person's identity first
- Ring the original number you already have saved for that person
- Be cautious of urgent requests involving money or banking issues
- Report suspicious messages and block the number
Gardaí said that while the scam may seem obvious to some, scammers rely on panic and emotion to pressure victims into acting quickly before thinking things through.