It has been described as a “classic” amongst scams.
Internet security firm ESET Ireland has warned Irish customers to be on the lookout for an Irish Water online scam. This comes a day after the news that Irish Water are to refund water charges by the end of the year.
The company have said that the scammers are phishing for the public’s credit and debit card details.
The scam comes in the form of an email titled “update your account details” and attached to it is an image of the Irish Water logo.
A login link is highlighted in the email and, when people click on the link, an Irish Water login page pops up where people are asked to enter their details for Irish Water.
Once ‘logged in’, the user is then asked to enter their credit or debit card details in order to update their account and once this is confirmed, the user is sent back to the actual Irish Water site.
ESET Ireland has recommended that users avoid clicking on any link in emails that look to be from suspicious senders.
In addition to this warning from the security company, Irish Water has stated on their website that they will never ask users to “perform annual maintenance” like the emails state.
Irish Water has also told the public to keep an eye out for spelling mistakes in fraudulent emails and the padlock icon which will confirm that the website is the real one.
Photos of the email are available on ESET Ireland’s website.
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