A new scam has emerged this week in which VHI customers targeted by criminals have been offered bogus refunds on medical expenses.
The latest wave of phishing scams involves an email designed to look like it comes from a MyVHI portal. It has been sent to both customers of the health insurance provider and people who are not with the VHI.
It follows the same model as similar scams which have targeted customers of the State’s banks, utilities, credit unions and Revenue and many other organisations in encouraging recipients to follow a link and enter personal details in order to claim their refund.
“After carefully reviewing your recent expenses, we are pleased to inform you that you are eligible for a refund,” the scam mail begins.
“To request a refund, you must reply to this email and include ‘CONFIRM MY REFUND’. After that, you will receive an email with the link to complete the refund process and receive your money,” it concludes.
The VHI is the largest health insurance provider in the Republic with over one million members and thousands of those likely to be waiting on a cash reimbursement at any given time. They are considered the most vulnerable to the latest scam.
“We are aware that some people have received an email purporting to be from VHI offering them the opportunity to claim a refund on their recent expenses,” a spokeswoman for the provider said.
She said it started hearing reports of the email circulating at the start of this week and stressed that it was not from the company.
“Anyone who receives the mail should delete it immediately. Do not reply to the email and do not share any personal details online,” she said.
Phishing scams have become increasingly common in Ireland – and globally – in recent years and according to recent data from a banking umbrella group, fraudsters stole almost €100 million from Irish consumers last year – an increase of 16 per cent on 2022.
According to the latest payment fraud report from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, €98.6 million was lost by Irish people to fraudsters last year.
Card fraud accounted for 95 per cent of fraudulent transactions, which amounted to a total of €35.2 million, or 36 per cent of the losses.
While other types of fraud had lower volumes, they saw more money being lost by consumers.
Unauthorised electronic transfers, where criminals steal victims’ mobile or online banking details and spend and transfer money without the account holder’s authorisation, accounted for only 3 per cent of the volume, but 34 per cent, or €33.8 million, of the losses.
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