There has been a significant increase in investment fraud in Ireland that has seen 25 million euro stolen from people last year.
People are being advised to be alert to criminals posing as investment managers and trying to fool someone into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist. Increasingly the victims are male; last year 69% of victims were male and the vast majority of those affected are over 40. Gardai said that in January 2024, a man in his 70s based in the east of Ireland reported that he had over 190,000 euro stolen after he invested the money in what he thought was a legitimate British company.The victim understood that he was legitimately engaged in online trading and was communicating with someone online who had encouraged him into it.
They also asked people not to invest until they get reliable financial and legal advice and to check the regulatory status of companies via the Central Bank of Ireland website.