The bank states that customers have lost money by trusting in "celebrities" and "selfie requests".
AIB has warned its customers about the rise in online investment scams, which is taking advantage of people who find themselves with a little bit of extra money and are looking for a way to wisely invest that money.
In a statement released to their customers, AIB said the following:
"If you've got some spare cash to invest, maybe some pension money, think carefully about where to send it. There are a lot of investment ideas out there - some good and some bad, like the promise to double your money. Some genuine investment products are endorsed by celebrities, but criminals also try to take advantage of people's trust in them.
"Ask yourself, why would that celebrity chef/actor/business guru put their name to an investment scheme? Most of these endorsements are scams. If the results look too good to be true, they usually are. There are genuine cryptocurrency and other types of investment opportunities out there, but you should always check if the broker is regulated.
"You can find out if they're regulated by going to the Central Bank's website and searching for Register of Firms. See? We didn't include a link, because a link can take you to a dummy site."
Tom Mullin, who works as part of the Fraud Intelligence Unit in AIB, claims that some customers have lost money by placing their trust in "a celebrity, a broker/promoter that they have not checked out, a simple request to upload a selfie from your phone or laptop (it can be enough to open a payment account in your name), and a person promising they will get your lost money back."
