Elderly people warned over fake callers after €20k theft

GARDAÍ are warning elderly people to avoid letting strangers into their home after a safe containing €20,000 in cash was stolen by two men posing as workers.

Senior officers are investigating the large cash theft in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, after the two men gained access to a house at Hillview estate claiming they were calling to fix the water mains.

The pair were let into a house by two elderly occupants on Monday week last. It is understood one of the men distracted the couple while the other ransacked rooms upstairs where he found a safe.

The duo fled with the safe while being watched by the distraught and helpless couple, who gardaí said were not harmed or threatened in the incident. The men may have fled in a large navy car with the registration details 00-D.

One of the men is described as being 5’10” with dark hair and was in his mid 30s. He was clean-shaven, stocky and wore a blue anorak.

The huge cash theft may be linked to a separate and equally alarming incident last week where two men gained entry to the home of a couple in their 80s after claiming to be from the Revenue Commissioners.

Shortly after 2pm last Tuesday, an elderly couple living along a cul-de-sac off the Proudstown Road in Navan answered the door to two male callers claiming they were from the Revenue Commissioners.

The callers left without taking anything, according to gardaí, and made off in a small white van with the possible registration details ‘2625’. It is not believed they targeted other houses in the locality.

After the men left the scene, the couple alerted gardaí as they began to feel uneasy about the call.

The pair are described as being in their early 30s and early 40s and are Irish. They had no distinguishable accent. They did not threaten or injure the couple.

Elsewhere in Drogheda, gardaí are investigating a terrifying attack on a man in his late 80s last Tuesday evening.

It is understood a male caller tried to gain entry to the home of the elderly man on the Ballymakenny Road last Tuesday lunchtime.

The man, who lives alone, refused to let the caller in and the stranger left. However, at about 6pm three men returned and held a screwdriver to the elderly man’s neck. The gang stole the man’s dog and a small sum of cash. The man was not seriously harmed but was left badly shaken.

According to gardaí, attacks on the homes of elderly people have increased recently following worrying incidents in the Oldcastle, Skryne, Slane, Oberstown and Summerhill areas.