Warning over local priest scam

It is the latest in a long series of lockdown scams targeting vulnerable in their homes.

Gardaí are warning the public over a fraudulent email circulating purporting to be from a local priest in the Carricmacross area seeking financial assistance.

The emails, which first began surfacing earlier this year, request that the recipient provides donations for various supposed fundraising activities, such as medical treatments.

“We are asking members of the public who receive such an email not to make any donations. Do not click on the attached link and delete the email immediately,” said a spokesperson for An Garda Siochan.

“Anyone who has become a victim of this fraud is asked to report the matter to their local Garda Station.”

It is the latest in a long series of lockdown scams targeting vulnerable in their homes.

Only last week did the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) warn consumers not to engage with a potential pyramid scheme that is circulating on social media channels in Ireland.

The CCPC has been contacted by consumers targetted to make an initial investment of €150 and then recruit others to invest. They were told that once they recruited more people they would move to the next tier of the model.

Under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, it is an offence for anyone to establish, operate, promote or knowingly participate in such a scheme.

The CCPC investigates potential breaches of consumer protection law by Irish registered businesses.

In the North, the PSNI have warned people to continue to be vigilant against scammers after a man lost £400 purchasing what he believed to be a new iPhone 11 yesterday last week.

The victim met the seller in a carpark to buy the phone after viewing an advertisement on social media, however, when he arrived home, he realised the phone was a fake.