🚨 FRAUD ALERT: Be Aware of Call Forwarding Scams 🚨
We’re asking members to be extra vigilant about a phone scam involving call forwarding.
📱 What is happening?
Fraudsters may impersonate a bank or financial institution and ask you to enter a *21* code followed by a telephone number.
Doing this may activate call forwarding, potentially redirecting your incoming calls to a number controlled by the fraudster.
⚠️ Why is this dangerous?
Once calls are redirected, a genuine call from your financial institution could go to the fraudster instead. They may then attempt to impersonate you using personal, banking or security information they have already obtained.
🛑 How to protect yourself
✅ End the call immediately if an unexpected caller asks you to dial *21* or change your phone settings.
✅ Never disclose online banking details, card information, PINs, passwords or one-time security codes.
✅ Never call a telephone number supplied by a suspicious caller, text or email.
✅ Contact your financial institution independently using a trusted telephone number.
✅ Remember: A legitimate financial institution will not ask you to activate call forwarding as part of a security check.
📞 Already entered the code?
If you believe you may have followed these instructions:
1️⃣ Contact Mallow Credit Union or your bank/financial institution immediately and explain what happened.
2️⃣ Contact your mobile provider immediately to check whether call forwarding is active and have it disabled.
3️⃣ Make a note of any personal, banking or security information you disclosed.
4️⃣ Check your accounts for any transactions or activity you don’t recognise.
5️⃣ Report the incident to An Garda Síochána.
💚 Please share this warning with family and friends. A quick conversation could help prevent someone from becoming a victim of fraud
