Rural Ireland seems to be an easy target for burglars, according to Robert O’Shea, an agri-contractor from Littleton, Co. Tipperary.
In August of last year, only days after his mothers funeral, robbers stole equipment from his premises.
Speaking on Newstalk, O’Shea said that they took diesal, batteries and power tools from his workshop.
“I thought on Sunday that we had been done but Sunday night around 3.30am a neighbour made me aware of another break-in.
“I was cleaned out. The batteries that were left in the cherry-picker, the forklift, the compressor, a stand-drill; you name it.
O’Shea said that it took him 30 years to build up all of that.
“Rural Ireland seems to be an easy target, I mean any place outside the pale, it’s not alone Littleton. Mid-Tipperary seems to be a blackspot,” he said.
No one has been arrested for the theft of his equipment and the Gardai think that they didn’t have enough room to carry everything, that’s why they came back the second night.
Scammers
A new fraud has hit the country in last couple of weeks, called ‘vishing’ whereby if you have a landline someone calls, pretending to be a security manager in a store, according to Cormac O’Keefe crime reporter with the Irish Examiner.
They tell you that someone in the store is attempting to use your card and ask for personal details, he told Newstalk.
“If you decline, they say to call your bank or Garda station. So then you immediately ring the financial institution but you’re not ringing anyone.
“The original call is still live, the fraudster has not hung up, essentially you’re continuing on the existing phonecall,” he said.
The fraudster or an accomplice then pretends that they’re from the bank or a Garda and they say to protect your money is to move it into another account.
Detective Superintendent Gerard Walsh said that this is occurring in other jurisdictions and that the scammers are taking advantage of clear-down time on the landline.
“People panic and want to get through to the Gardai but they don’t listen for the dial tone.
“These bank accounts are created by criminals and speed is of the essence so report it as quick as possible.
“Go to your local Garda station and report it; don’t assume it will resolve itself,” he said.