Where will these devilish tricksters stop? They're now using highly advanced techniques based on the power of suggestion to diddle their victims.
From today's Irish Independent:
GARDAI have warned the public to ignore a fraudulent email informing recipients that they have won a lotto prize.They received e-mails, disguised as official Irish National Lottery communications, last Friday claiming they had won €218,086 and asking for personal details so the money could be lodged into their bank accounts. But instead of money going in, the tricksters are using the information to access the accounts and steal cash from them.
[the phone rings in Mick's house]
Mick: "Hello?"
Trickster: "Hello, who am I speaking to?"
Mick: "Eh...this is Mick."
Trickster: "Mick..."
Mick: "O'Toole. Who's this now?"
Trickster: "This is John Smith from the National Lottery ringing you, Mick O'Toole, to tell you that you've just won two hundred and eighteen thousand euro!"
Mick: "I have? I don't play the lotto though."
Trickster: "Ah, but that isn't important anymore because you're a wealthy man now!"
Mick: "God that's great news. Two hundred euro. Fancy that."
Trickster: "Two hundred THOUSAND euro, Mick."
Mick: "Right, right."
Trickster: "Indeed! Now Mick, I'll be needing your bank account number, sort code, PIN number, credit card number, access to your pension, power of attorney and I'll occasionally need to crash at your place when I'm in Sligo. I'll also probably want to drink your whiskey and sleep with your wife."
Mick: "I see. That sounds grand. All that bank stuff is under the bed so you'll have to wait there while I get it. Do you have a pen? Herself is at the shops, but I'll tell her about that last bit when she gets home."