Kerry gardaí launch bogus callers card scheme

Gardaí in Kerry’s county town have come up with a strategy to prevent the targeting of vulnerable people, especially the elderly, for large sums of cash.

A Bogus Callers card scheme has been launched in Tralee following an increase in the number of people calling to people’s houses posing as a tradesman and offering to do work at often-exorbitant rates.

Contact cards will be issued to all Neighbourhood Watch representatives in the town for distribution in the coming weeks.

Community gardaí will also be involved and the hope is the cards will act as a deterrent.

Householders can ask any traders or workmen calling to their homes to supply all their details on the Neighbourhood Watch contact cards. If they are in any doubt as to the legitimacy of the caller, householders can contact Tralee Garda Station to verify the details on the cards.

Tralee-based Sgt James Foley said if callers were genuine, there should be no difficulty in householders getting details from them.

“We hope this will be an effective way of tackling a particularly mean type of crime,” he said. “Over the last few years, a certain section of society has identified vulnerable and isolated people and has been taking advantage of them. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of bogus callers.

“This is criminal behaviour with defined criminal offences, ranging from criminal damage, deception, to demanding money with menaces.”

According to gardaí, many of the bogus callers carried out very little work but charged exorbitant prices, demanded money in advance for materials and gained access to the house to see what valuables were inside.

Some people have already been convicted for conning elderly people out of large sums of money — sometimes running into tens of thousands of euro — in parts of Kerry and Cork.

Gardaí advise householders to ask for an itemised, written quotation from people offering to do work, and to always look for comparable estimates from other established, reputable companies.

They should also ask for names of persons and locations where the callers have previously worked and should never employ a person who insists on cash payment.

Cards can be obtained from Tralee Garda Station or by phoning the Community Policing section on 066 710 2300.