A leading women's charity has warned the public of 'bogus collectors' who are calling door to door supposedly raising funds for them.
Women's Aid Ireland were forced to post on social media about the incidents after multiple reports came their way on Friday evening.
The people behind the scam appeared to be operating in the north Dublin area, with a number of replies from members of the public noting where they were.
Women's Aid tweeted on Friday: "We’ve been informed that there are bogus door to door collectors in Botanic/Glasnevin area of Dublin who claim to be collecting for Women’s Aid. We don’t permit this form of fundraising. Please contact the Gardaí if they approach you for funds. Thank you."
While those who are behind this nasty trick are doing it face-to-face, there has been a considerate rise in online and digital scams in 2021.
Thousands of Irish people have fallen victim to criminals attempting to hack into their personal details in recent months.
A lot of the scams look the same: they are claiming to be from a reputable organisation, before asking for some personal details which the reputable organisation would never actually look for.
It has resulted in a lot of victims losing money and other personal belongings.
The latest trick that is being used by criminals to swindle people appears to be impersonating An Post.
The scam email tells the recipient: "The item was missed for delivery. Our courier driver could not find a safe place to leave the parcel. You can reschedule for delivery above. In 5 working days, Your package will be returned to sender if VAT is not paid."
Above the text is a big button asking the recipient to reschedule the delivery, but naturally, you shouldn't click it as it will inevitably ask you for your bank details.
The scammers have been very sneaky in the presentation of the fake notification, even putting the Covid-19 information which you can find at the bottom of a legitimate An Post email into the fake one.
