Irish consumers are the second most active online EU shoppers, and have the second highest experience of fraud. Photograph: Getty Images/iStockThe unexpected email alarmed my older relative in California. Apparently from PayPal, it confirmed her purchase of $800 in bitcoin. She wouldn’t have had the faintest interest in buying bitcoin.
Thus she became another victim of a widespread online phishing scam using gift cards. No one had used her PayPal account, of course. Apple Support confirmed to me that the gift card had been redeemed swiftly at an Apple Store in Philadelphia. Only gift card numbers are needed, not the actual cards. And as a regular stream of scam emails and phone messages continued to flow in, as they do these days for us all, my relative remains worried her accounts have been breached. I’ve asked her to phone me whenever she’s unsure about a message or email.
According to the report, Irish consumers are the second most active online EU shoppers, and have the second highest experience of fraud, with 68 per cent saying they’ve personally experienced fraud through online purchases, identity theft or monetary schemes.