Banks are warning about a new scam that sees scammers speaking directly to people over the phone.

The new banking scam see fraudsters sending out text messages telling people a new direct debit has been set up on their account.

It asks them to call a phone number in the text message and when they do they believe they are talking to the bank when in fact they are speaking directly to the scammer.

Direct Debit scam

Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) financial crime expert Niamh Davenport said customers now need to be vigilant about text messages links and phone calls.

“This is a new scam that is being detected by our FraudSMART members,” she said.

“Essentially, what’s happening is they’re getting a text message saying there has been a new direct debit set up on your bank account.

“The text message says you need to call the number on the text message immediately.

“It mimics the style of a legitimate text message you might expect to see from your bank.

“The one difference with this is there is a phone number in it as opposed to a link like we normally see from fraudsters.”

"Speaking directly to the fraudster"

She said customers believe they are talking to their bank's fraud department when they call the number – but they are “actually speaking directly to the fraudster”.

“They are saying your account is at risk and you have to protect your money and in order to do this, you have to transfer your funds to another account and close your account but of course the account that you are transferring your funds to is actually controlled by the fraudster,” she said.

Ms Davenport said banks will never ask you to transfer all your money from one account to another when dealing with cyber threats.