'Plague': Fraud offences jump 215% in Limerick garda district

THE INCREASE in the number of people being scammed in Limerick has been laid bare by Bruff Superintendent Paul Reidy.

Speaking at a joint policing committee meeting of the Capamore-Kilmallock local area, Supt Reidy said was a 215% increase such offences in the garda district between quarter three and quarter four of 2021.

He said there were 41 instances in the last three months of 2021 compared to 13 in the preceding three months. These include vishing (fraud phone calls), phishing (fraud emails) and, in particular, smishing (fraud texts).

"It is a substantial increase. Unfortunately they are preying on elderly, vulnerable people living alone in rural communities. They are often duped by suspicious texts from a financial institution. It is having a very significant impact on the community. We are continuously alerting people not to click on links," said Supt Reidy.

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Speaking after the meeting, the superintendent gave one example of criminals who claim to be from the online retailer Amazon.

"It is generally text messages pretending to be from an institution or Amazon. It may say their account is overdue. They might have hit on somebody who is expecting something from Amazon and click the link thinking it is genuine," explained Supt Reidy.

The story in the Bruff district is replicated all over the country, he said.

"Every place is plagued with this kind of crime,” said Supt Reidy. His colleague, Roxboro Superintendent Dermot O’Connor concurred. While there only has been four in Ballyneety and Caherconlish (the parts of the municipal district under his remit) in the last four months of 2022, he said it may not be “reflective of the number of incidents that actually happened”.

"People are often embarrassed or afraid to report it. I would have seen similar increases in this type of crime in the last six to 12 months," said Supt O’Connor.

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Turning to the more traditional offences, Supt Reidy had better news for local councillors. Burglaries were down from 34 in quarter three to 20 in quarter four. However, thefts doubled from 10 in quarter three to 21 in quarter four.

Regarding thefts from MPVs, Supt Reidy said councillors would be aware of a number of related incidents in the Galbally area. We increased beats and patrols and identified a suspect. He will be arrested in due course. Since then there have been no incidences,” said Supt Reidy.

Assaults decreased and the superintendent reported "significant seizures of cocaine and cannabis" including a growhouse.

Drink and drug driving detections were up from six to nine in quarter three versus quarter four. 

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Supt O’Connor began his presentation with the news that Caherconlish has got an additional garda. It was especially welcomed by Cllr Brigid Teefy who had oft raised this.

The Roxboro superintendent compared the whole of 2020 and 2021 in terms of Caherconlish and Ballyneety sub-districts. Property crime was down from 39 to 36; Crimes against the person was up slightly from 12 to 15.

Supt O’Connor said that detections for drink and drug driving jumped from six in 2020 to 19 in 2021 and highlighted extra garda patrols. 

Extra traffic on the roads reflected in 21 more road traffic collisions in 2021 – 36 compared to 57.