Warning serious scam alert

amdublin

Friend of mine, her grandmother was scammed last week:
Two fellas in high-vis jackets knocked on the door. Said they were from the council and there was a water or oil leak. She let them in and then one of them said needed to check upstairs.

Usual story, later on she discoved all her Xmas money was gone.

Not a new scam by any means folks, but be warned and be on the watch out.

Diddler1977

amdublin wrote: »

Friend of mine, her grandmother was scammed last week:
Two fellas in high-vis jackets knocked on the door. Said they were from the council and there was a water or oil leak. She let them in and then one of them said needed to check upstairs.

Usual story, later on she discoved all her Xmas money was gone.

Not a new scam by any means folks, but be warned and be on the watch out.

So bad. Wonder are older people being targetted or is anyone a potential victim.

Did the above occur in D15?

amdublin

Yes it was d15.

Am sure happening all over. Not sure for definite but IMO they probably do target older people. So prob best to warn your neighbours/older family. But to keep an eye out yourself.

spooky donkey

thats real bad. I hope these scum get caught.

heffomike54

amdublin wrote: »

Friend of mine, her grandmother was scammed last week:
Two fellas in high-vis jackets knocked on the door. Said they were from the council and there was a water or oil leak. She let them in and then one of them said needed to check upstairs.

Usual story, later on she discoved all her Xmas money was gone.

Not a new scam by any means folks, but be warned and be on the watch out.

Scumbags!!!! I hope this was reported to the Gardai but also to local neighbors and other such people in the community who deal with the elderly.

amdublin

Yes desperate isn't it. Not sure if reported etc - assume / hope it was.

Poor lady, she now feels unsafe in her own home so my friends family have to arrange for one of them to be there all the time. Plus she feels ashamed/angry that she fell for it. Plus also, it seems to have been ALL her xmas money eg.presents, food bills etc; we're not talking just a few hundred here

T-Maxx

Is she even living in a council house I wonder?

Jehuty42

While I sympathise, it's a bit foolish to have that much money in cash at home.

amdublin

Jehuty42 wrote: »

While I sympathise, it's a bit foolish to have that much money in cash at home.

I know...

Kev.

Jehuty42 wrote: »

While I sympathise, it's a bit foolish to have that much money in cash at home.

Probably safer than the banks....

wildlifeman

She let 2 blokes in the house with no formal identification and wearing high vis jackets? hmmm

Diddler1977

wildlifeman wrote: »

She let 2 blokes in the house with no formal identification and wearing high vis jackets? I dont think you need to warn anyboby about this because no body other than a complete idiot would let anyone in their house without proper id and even then they wouldnt be stepping through my door. as for leaving money out like that,,,,sheeesh. her age has nothing to do with this. the woman was STUPID!

Obviously we all know this woman's actions were stupid.

However, none of us would be so rude as to call the woman stupid.

Sometimes older people may not have the ability to either say no or they can not assess whether someone is not who they say they are. Scam artists know exactly who to target - and they also are extremely manipulative.

Have some empathy and spread the word to prevent this happening again.

vibe666

wildlifeman wrote: »

She let 2 blokes in the house with no formal identification and wearing high vis jackets? I dont think you need to warn anyboby about this because no body other than a complete idiot would let anyone in their house without proper id and even then they wouldnt be stepping through my door. as for leaving money out like that,,,,sheeesh. her age has nothing to do with this. the woman was STUPID!

picking on an old lady on the internet? nice, i'm sure your parents are very proud. :rolleyes:

there are obviously still plenty of trusting old people in the world who do fall for these types of scams or these scumbags wouldn't still be using them, which is why raising awareness of these types of things are helpful, unlike your attitude to them.

i just hope that if you have older vulnerable relatives they have someone other than you that they can turn to for help in a time of need.

where's the thumbs down button when you need it?

Gillo

wildlifeman wrote: »

She let 2 blokes in the house with no formal identification and wearing high vis jackets? I dont think you need to warn anyboby about this because no body other than a complete idiot would let anyone in their house without proper id and even then they wouldnt be stepping through my door. as for leaving money out like that,,,,sheeesh. her age has nothing to do with this. the woman was STUPID!

Harsh man, very harsh
Ok, it was a mistake, but any decent con-man will be very convincing, it's also not exactly hard to print of some sort of id card and buy a lamentater (sp?) in the likes of Reads or Easons. Older people tend to be the victims more often, maybe it's because they are more trusting, I don't know, for it to happen at any stage is crap but all the christmas money going that's just terrible.

Just hope it never happens to you.

TT09

Wildlifeman you should change your username to lowlifeman, disgrace.

daveyboy_1ie

Ah come on Wildlifeman, don't confuse naivity and trustworthiness with stupidity. Maybe you could say she lacks street smarts???

That's awful OP, on top of the robery is the shock and unhappiness and sometimes that can have a far greater affect than losing a couple of quid. Hopefully she will be ok. It's a sad state when we encourage our elder folk to be a cynical as we certainly are.

littlebitdull

I have to say I HATE the way people in general are so quick to blame the victum.

Why? Some lowlife scum ripped off someone and people weigh in with - you shouldn't have money at home, you shouldn't leave your bag unattended etc etc.

When I had my purse lifted out of my backpack- the very first thing everyone said was directed towards me. Like you should have carried the bag on your front, you should keep your money on your body etc etc. It took a while before they got to the bit where they said 'those guys were scum for robbing you'.

OP - thanks for the heads up - its horrible that we cant be safe in our homes. And worse for the older amongst us - who are more vunerable. Maybe because they can remember nicer times when you could actually trust people.

Gaspode

Seriously folks, way ot and ott. Thread closed.

Wildlifeman, I appreciate you did edit your post albeit a bit late, but please observe the charter of this forum or any others on boards.