GARDAI in Kerry are warning the public about a number of fraudulent incidents and scams reported to them.

On Wednesday, July 6, a man misplaced his mobile phone which was found by a person who accessed his Bitcoin account and transferred €16,650 into his own account.

The suspect has been identified, but Gardaí are reminding people to be conscious of their phone security settings.

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They advise phone owners to have a pin lock that activates after a few seconds in case the phone falls into the wrong hands.

Last week, gardai in Kerry received reports of people who had supplied their account details to persons over the phone thinking that the caller was genuine.

The injured party lost €2,800 from their account by the caller gaining access to his account and transferring the money into another an account outside the State.

Also, there was an incident where an injured party received an invoice for €8,076 which the business believed to be genuine account. Unfortunately it was a scam and the business owner was relieved of this money that he will not be reimbursed for.

Business owners, especially those managing accounts, are advised to ensure that account numbers are checked with previous payments and enquire with the business to be paid if the account numbers are changed.