Residents in the Roscam and Doughiska area are being urged to be vigilant after numerous reports of scammers operating locally. The perpetrators, said to be males in their adolescent years have been allegedly calling to houses and masquerading as representatives of the Black Dragon Kickboxing club.
The reports revealed that the men were carrying sponsorship cards with the Black Dragon Kickboxing club logo and asking for donations for the club. The victims of their scam have stated that their approach was amiable and there was no cause for suspicion at the time. However Pete Foley of the Black Dragon Boxing club has unleashed his fury on the topic by reiterating that these criminals are in no way associated with the club.
“I was first informed about the scam there yesterday when a member of the club called me and said that a young boy attempted to sell lines on a sponsorship card with our logo downloaded from our website. Later that day another former member of the club phoned to say that he saw two adult males, two adult females, and a child in the Doughiska internet cafe printing out sponsorship cards with the Black Dragon logo on it.”
He noted that the club has no current fundraising agenda in place and that is not set to change in the immediate future so the public need not hesitate to refuse compliance if they are visited by two young men with unauthorised sponsorship cards.
Other warning signs to be aware of are the numbering on the cards. Those who have been targeted by the scammers said that they saw numbers from one to 25 on the cards. In addition to that the scammers will be without Garda permits and only recognised fund raisers in the kick-boxing club would be equipped with these if a genuine quest to raise funds were in place.
Pete Foley told the Galway Advertiser that the Black Dragon Kickboxing club have taken out Garda permits in a bid to combat this epidemic. “We had to take out Garda permits because of the scams. Our club was targeted last year and a few years prior to that as well so we were forced to take the necessary precautions.”
The Black Dragon Kickboxing organisation is issuing a plea to quell this scam by requesting that people decline to offer over money to anyone carrying these false sponsorship cards and report them immediately to Mill Street Station at (091 538000 ), Oranmore Garda Station(091 388030 ), or Pete Foley (0878119227 ). “Before anyone ever hands over money to a person claiming to be a fund raiser, you should always request to see identification. It’s not just the kickboxing club that’s suffering. Clubs and organisations of all varieties have been targeted we are asking people to please be sensible when someone calls to your house looking for money.”
