A robbery scam that sees potential thieves try to trick people into leaving their valuable items exposed has been unearthed in a Dublin shopping centre car park.
A woman had just parked in the SuperValu car park in Knocklyon when a young man came over to her acting like he knew her, as the door to her vehicle remained open.
During the conversation, he placed a set of designer knives on the passenger seat of the car and mentioned that they were available on offer in the shop.
But it was only after the odd exchange that the woman realised he had been attempting to steal from her car - and was only stopped because her handbag was on the floor rather than the seat.
And it's emerged that a similar scam was recently in operation in nearby Ballinteer.
The concerned resident shared the story with local councillor Deirdre O'Donovan.
They said: "I had a disconcerting experience last Thursday week in the SuperValu car park in Knocklyon. Just as I parked the car a young man 19-24 very clean cut and well spoken opened the passenger door . “Hi I was just looking for you“ giving me the impression he knew me.
"He then placed a box containing a selection of kitchen knives on the passenger seat and said they were available at the Jamie Oliver stand in the store. Completely taken I started to ask about the offer. With that he grabbed the box and quickly went away.
"My handbag was not on the passenger seat but on the floor which he could not easily reach!! I only became suspicious when I discovered there was no Jamie Oliver stand in Supervalu. I alerted the security and was told that a similar scam had been in operation in Ballinteer earlier in the week.
"Be aware always and report anything suspicious to the Gardai."
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