Criminals pretend to be municipal employees, provide false information and ask for money. The Chamber has teams on the ground.
A Leiria Chamber alerted the population to teasing made by people who do go through municipal officials and who provide false information and they ask for money.
The municipality to the citizens so that don’t open the doordo not provide personal data and do not sign documents or accept payment requests from people who are pretending to be “representatives of public entities”, including the municipality.
Leiria City Council added that the municipality has teams on the ground following Kristin’s depression, but which “it is not requesting any type of payment, donation or monetary value”.
If in doubt, the municipality asked people to contact municipal services or authorities directly.
Notices to inhabitants
On Monday, the Leiria Territorial Command of the National Republican Guard (GNR) told Lusa that, “although, so far, no occurrence of this type has been reported” in its area of intervention, “it is common that, in contexts of reconstruction and fragility”, malicious people “are pass them off as technicians of services, employees of institutions or representatives of authorities to extort money or access residences”.
A GNR clarified that “it has intensified its presence on the ground”, with “surveillance active in the areas most affected by depression, door-to-door contact with “older and isolated citizens, providing personalized safety advice”, and continuous alerts on social media.
The GNR recommended that citizens do not allow strangers to enter the house, “even if they identify themselves as repair technicians (electricity, water, gas)” or State employees “without having previously requested the service”.
On the other hand, he advised that “always ask for a professional identification card” and, if in doubt, contact the company or entity that the person claims to represent before opening the door.
In addition to not handing over money, the GNR called on people to be suspicious of “immediate cash payments for ‘urgent fees’, ‘debris cleaning’ or ‘compensation processes’”, keep neighbors informed whenever a stranger approaches and always report suspicious behavior to the authorities, either to the GNR or via the national emergency number, 112.
The Leiria District Command of the Public Security Police (PSP) said that it was “very important that people Don’t be fooled by the excessive availability and voluntarism of strange people”, asking “to identify the people and, if they are unknown, call the police”.
Last week, and in the same sense, the district commander of the Public Security Police (PSP), Domingos Urbano Antunes, said that in these contexts three more frequent fraud attempts usually arise: insurance inspections, job offers from companies for reconstruction and false family members.
“They should only accept help from people who are knowledgeable and perfectly identified, and report situations, seeking to collect physiognomic data and registration numbers of the vehicles used by these people”, recommended the PSP, insisting that they never allow strangers to enter the home.
