Gardaí are again warning people to beware of a telephone scam.

"Vishing" is when criminals deceive people into providing personal information which they attempt to use to commit fraud.

Members of the public receive a telephone call to their landline from an individual claiming to be a "security manager" from a well-known store.

The person is asked to provide personal financial details.

If they decline, the caller advises the individual to either contact their financial institution using the telephone number on the reverse of their genuine card - or alternatively contact the gardaí and provide this information to them.

A recent twist on the scam has been the use of the name of the local garda superintendent by the caller.

The customer then hangs up and assumes they are phoning either the bank or the gardaí as instructed.

But the original call has not been terminated - so the victim ends up disclosing their personal banking details to the fraudster or an accomplice who has remained on the line.

Detective Superintendent Gerard Walsh from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation says some people have been conned out of thousands of euro.