Ireland is out of step with other English-speaking countries by not having an SMS scam message filter to protect consumers from fraudsters, Bank of Ireland has said.
The recommendation is contained in a four-point plan issued by the lender on Thursday, setting out its solutions for dealing with investment fraud, the incidence of which has surged 76 per cent so far this year, it said.
Bank of Ireland is calling for a co-ordinated national crime strategy to be put in place to better protect consumers.
The bank wants the Government to legislate to create an SMS scam filter in the Republic. It said the ComReg has previously highlighted the fact that the State is out of step with other countries, including some EU member states, which have a filter in place to identify scam texts sent to mobile phones. Bank of Ireland said the introduction of such a filter here would require legislation from the Department of Communications, which “should be prioritised”.
It also recommended amendments to national and European legislation so that online platforms can only publish advertising for financial products and services from companies that are regulated by a competent national authority, such as the Central Bank of Ireland.
The bank also wants to create a national fraud databases so banks, utilities and payments companies can share the details of fraud attempts and other related information. This “and would help to prevent customer losses more swiftly”.
Paul O’Brien from Bank of Ireland Security Group said the bank has seen a 76 per cent surge in investment fraud attempts in the first half of 2024. ““Ireland has become an outlier on a number of fronts,” he said. “This is no doubt attracting even more fraudsters to target Irish consumers and we need swifter policy action to combat this. Other countries in Europe and around the world are taking firm steps to interrupt the criminals and protect the consumer, and Ireland needs to follow suit.”
Bank of Ireland said it has now written to the Oireachtas Finance Committee, setting out its proposals.