Charity warn residents of suspected fraudulent collection
By Maurice Garvey
RESIDENTS are encouraged to contact charities or organisations directly, if they suspect a fraudulent collection.
In the Monastery area of Clondalkin this week, residents were warned about a lady claiming to be from Youth Suicide Prevention, knocking door to door to collect for a ‘sky dive.’
A resident contacted the Kerry Based charity, who confirmed that the lady did not represent them.
Speaking to The Echo, Tony Philpott, CEO of Youth Suicide Prevention, urged people to contact charities directly “if in doubt.”
“We were delighted to get the call, because we don’t want someone out there mis-representing us”, he said.
“The law has changed, you can’t do door to door collections anymore. The fact this person had an ID with them rang bells. We don’t issue ID badges.
“We are a small charity. Most collections nowadays are done online. We have nobody in the country going door to door.”
Mr Philpott said the issue was an ongoing one in general, for many charities, and a difficult one for garda to police, but he believes stricter punishments would acts as a deterrent to combat future cases.
“I’d thank that person who rang us and encourage people to make the call to a charity if they have doubts,” he said.
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