Gardai in Fermoy are warning the public to be vigilant about scams in light of two recent scams that have been in local circulation.

One, which appears at first glance to have been genuine, was advertised in local papers and gave people the opportunity to earn between €18 and €25 per hour with the freedom to select their own hours and region to work in, promising no fees and no experience required.

People who opted for this were in email correspondence whereby they were told they had been appointed as survey agents and they would receive a cheque to carry out surveys in Western Union, restaurants and MoneyGram. They are asked to lodge the cheque and then withdraw the money.

Anyone who signed up for this or anything like it is advised to contact their local Garda station and not to lodge the cheque.

A sergeant in Fermoy told The Avondhu that with previous investigations, which were very similar to this, money travelled abroad and therefore the injured party had no recourse to claim back any funds lost.

In another scam, businesses have received a fax asking them to register their VAT ID number with a specific database for an annual fee of €760.

Gardai advised the public that again because money often travels abroad, it is not possible for the injured party to get their money back.

They also said that all Government Departments and financial service providers will issue customers with a hard copy, rather than something by fax or email.

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