Irish identities are being stolen and sold online for 25, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.

Major data breaches have resulted in a significant number of Irish customers bank login details, passwords, PPS numbers and addresses being packaged together and the information sold on the dark web.

The package, which is referred to as a fullz in criminal slang, contains a persons real name, address, and form of ID. Credit card numbers, copies of passports and drivers licences are also on sale.

Niamh Davenport, from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI), said: You can buy credit card details on there for something like 10 pounds or euro. Now, that card might not work but some people think its worth the risk. Theres a cost-of-living crisis. Someone might be using that card for relatively small amounts, maybe something like going to going to Tesco and putting food on the table.

People think this is a victimless crime and that the person whose money you are taking will get it back from the bank but that is not always the case.

The availability of data on the dark web is really brazen. Weve seen all sorts but people dont really know who theyre giving that money to.

Ms Davenport also explained that the use of money mules people who allow their accounts to be used to move illegally obtained money between bank accounts has also become a huge problem.

She said: Younger people especially dont really see the problem with it. They think its a few bob in their pockets. But they can be helping drug dealers or even human traffickers.

Sources told the Irish Daily Mail that officers attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) are aware of the trade in identities and are actively investigating.

However, probes into these crimes can prove difficult. Often many people do not make an official statement to garda if they have been scammed following their data being used and others dont even know they had been targeted.

Those advertising the details for sale are charging relatively small sums of money for the information. However, this is due to risk and rewards factors associated with the illegal sale of documents and details such as credit cards.

A security source with knowledge of the investigative practices explained why people place these details online instead of using them for their own personal gain.

He said: Most people posting credit card details online are not just taking one persons details and putting them online.

The vast majority of people have a massive amount of information that has been scraped from data breaches. So, while you can put something up for 25, this seller will be advertising hundreds if not thousands of these. They also minimise the risk of not being caught as they deal solely in cryptocurrency which is notoriously difficult to track.

The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) liaises with the GNECB and regularly sends bulletins regarding people who they suspect are involved in some form of fraud.

Many of the scammers are also hard to nail down as they use cryptocurrency for their transactions. The more organised crime gangs also hire money mules to move their illicit cash.

In recent weeks, large volumes of information were posted following a data breach at the Munster Technical University. It is believed that the breach allowed the fraudsters to access financial details and medical records.

It is not known if personal data from that breach is among that being sold on the dark web. Other ways in which information gets stolen is through traditional phishing emails and smishing (fraudulent text messages).

A huge Facebook hack in 2021 resulted in more than 500 million people having their details stolen and placed online for sale.

A source with knowledge of the investigation into these scammers told the Irish Daily Mail: Its the case that data from any hack in the last few years will end up online. Someone has a site on the dark web where you can search the data via name, address and phone number.

There is also a lot of data harvested via phishing and smishing. It costs around 50 to send 10,000 text messages.

If you get 100 people to bite, the original scammer might use 10 full sets of personal information and sell the rest.

A BOI spokesman said: Monitoring of the dark web is a standard fraud detection and prevention measure undertaken by the bank.

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Stolen Irish Identities On Sale For 25 On The Dark Web - Extra.ie