Gardaí urge rural residents to be vigilant and report suspicious activity
As the dark evenings have set in, gardaí are asking people living in rural areas to be more vigilant and report any suspicious activity they notice.
Garda Cathy Murphy, a community garda in Co. Kerry, offered some advice while speaking at a meeting of Gleskflesk Community Alert this week.
"There's all sorts of scams going around these days between the online stuff, the bogus callers calling to your door, people coming looking for money for x,y and z.
"We have to be so vigilant about it.
"The old rules apply, if something is too good to be true, it usually is.
"If we apply that basis to everything they we get a lot further with our own money and we don't have to hand it over to other people," she said.
Garda Murphy added: "From that perspective, just be really wary about it. If people do come to your door and they're offering you a service that you didn't ask for, then you have to think about it.
"They're probably looking for a few different things. They're looking to see whether or not you've cash in the house.
"They may take the money off you before they even do the work for you, so you may never get the work done.
"They may also come back later because they might just be scoping out to see how many people are in the house, how many cars are around the place, how often people are coming and going."
Gardaí
Garda Murphy said that people living in local communities are the "eyes and ears" for the gardaí, who "can't be everywhere".
"If you do see something, and you think it's suspicious - even if it's not suspicious, give us a buzz anyway.
"We can determine what needs to be followed up on," she said.
The meeting heard that Glenflesk Community Alert and the gardaí are planning to revitalise text service in the locality.
Kathleen Herlihy, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) second delegate in Co. Kerry, also spoke at the meeting.
She also advised people to contact the gardaí if they come across something suspicious in their area.
"We think sometimes maybe what I see is insignificant or whatever. I'd say let the experts decide that. Be vigilant.
"There are a lot of elderly people now living on their in own in isolated areas, they're very vulnerable and it's important for us to be there to look out for each other, no matter what age we are," she said.
She also urged people not to give away that "careless bit of information" to an unfamiliar caller at the door, either about themselves or their neighbours.
