'Cat and mouse' - What happens when you call a scammer?

Updated / Monday, 22 Dec 2025 07:38 If you make the call back to a scammer, you're letting them know your number is active and it can be sold on to other scammers as such, and you could even get more scam messages and calls Aengus Cox By Aengus Cox Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Correspondent Bank customers are being warned to be vigilant of increasingly sophisticated scams circulating this Christmas. In some cases, scammers are using real recordings from some of the pillar banks' existing contact lines and using them to try and convince customers - who are prompted to call the numbers via text messages - that they are legitimate in a bid to get them to give over personal financial details that can be used to defraud them. Like many of the scams going around, the jumping-off point is usually a text message you receive on your phone, with this particular one purporting to be from a bank. I've seen different versions. In some cases, the scammers pretend to be from PTSB, other times it's Bank of Ireland, and also AIB. When people who call the numbers back get through to a human, they also sound quite convincing The content of the text message is the same each time, warning that a transaction to Tesco on your bank card has been declined and the card has been placed on hold. It says "contact us immediately if it wasn't you" and a phone number is provided. This is a common scam tactic; creating a sense of urgency, with the hope people don't think properly about what they're doing and potentially making them more vulnerable. The advice is not to call these numbers. Any suspected scam message should be reported to your bank or even gardaí and should then be deleted. If you make the call, you're letting the scammers know your number is active and it can be sold on to other scammers as such, and you could even get more scam messages and calls. But as I'm researching scams - and as I was curious - I made the call (recording the call without the knowledge of the scammer). The first thing that stood out was the sophistication. The number I called was pretending to be from PTSB. You hear a welcome message at the start from the bank (that's been copied directly from a PTSB customer phone line), so it can sound legitimate from the outset. Then when you get through to a human, they also sound quite convincing. 'How can I help?' My scammer called himself 'Adam' and he had an Irish accent. He reassuringly opened up with "How can I help?". I explained that I received a text message warning me of an attempt to use my bank card. 'Adam' had attempted to make his target think the money was compromised via Apple Pay Before I handed over any personal details, Adam told me "we did find activity on your card ... there was a...

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