Paul McDermott, Crime Prevention Officer with Roscommon Gardaí, is advising the public to be extra-vigilant following the activities of a man posing as a shoe salesman.
On Thursday, 18th of May at 1.30 pm the ‘scam salesman’ called to an elderly man living in Fuerty, Co. Roscommon. The elderly man was outside in his yard when approached and asked if he was interested in buying a pair of shoes. The ‘salesman’ opened the boot of his car, which was full of boxes of shoes. He showed the man a pair of shoes and the elderly man agreed to buy them.
When the elderly man took the cash out of his wallet to count it, the ‘shoe salesman’ snapped all of his cash from his hand, threw five pairs of shoes onto the ground, jumped in his car and sped off with the cash.
The ‘shoe salesman’ is described as being male, in his late 30s to early 40s, well built, with short black hair, a dark moustache and is described as “good looking with white teeth.” He was travelling in a “chocolate-coloured car” with either a 161 or 171 registration.
Gardaí in Roscommon are appealing for anyone with information about the identity of this man to contact them at Roscommon and wish to warn the public, particularly older persons, to be vigilant when dealing with callers purporting to sell items door to door.
Gardaí say full use should be made of security door chains and door viewers and the public are advised never to remove all of the cash from their wallets or purses in front of a stranger at the door.
