Overview
- FraudSMART warned on Thursday that there has been a surge in AI-created online adverts that promote bogus 'state-backed' investment offers and use fake images or short videos of politicians and businesspeople to lure clicks.
- An Garda Síochána recorded more than a 20% rise in investment-fraud reports in 2025 compared with 2024 and said cumulative losses have exceeded €20 million with the trend continuing into 2026.
- The scams follow a common pattern where users click a registration link, give contact details, receive a call from a bogus 'financial adviser' and are pressured to pay an immediate 'security deposit' before criminals quickly move funds through multiple accounts, often overseas.
- People in their early 50s are being targeted because they hold much of the country’s savings and are planning for retirement, with individual losses ranging from a few hundred euro to tens of thousands, police said.
- Banks, the Central Bank registers, Scamchecker.ie, and community outreach partnerships such as FraudSMART with Age Friendly Ireland are being promoted as verification and reporting routes while the government seeks tighter advertiser checks and new financial literacy measures.