Gardaí investigate "extortion-type offences"

Fraud offences continue to be a major problem with two types of fraud reported to local gardaí in recent weeks. One of them resulted in a woman having several hundred euros taken from her bank account.

A garda spokesman said these types of fraud offences are becoming more sophisticated. They generally involve individuals replying to unsolicited texts and the fraudsters taking control of the injured party's bank account.

And - as recently mentioned at a meeting of Tipperary Joint Policing Committee - there has been a marked increase in "extortion-type offences", where the injured party engages with someone online and sends images to them. The suspect then threatens to release these private images online unless money is paid.

Gardaí are asking members of the public to be very vigilant of these types of offences.