Incidence of burglars posing as legitimate traders is increasing, Garda warns

One third of all burglaries are as a result of an intruder coming in through the front door – with 45 per cent of all burglaries taking place between 5pm and 11 at night.

That is according to the latest statistics from the Garda, which also show the most frequently stolen objects include jewellery and cash, followed by computers, mobile phones, televisions and games consoles.

The practice of “fishing”, where car keys are fished through a letterbox by burglars, also remains a problem with the Dublin region most at risk. Gardaí have also noted a further phenomenon of thieves using electronic scanning equipment to clone car keys and simply driving away in cars which are otherwise well protected by alarms and immobilisers.

Releasing the statistics on Tuesday, the Garda warned householders “to lock up and light up” during longer dark winter evenings. The Garda also advised householders to be aware that the incidence of bogus callers presenting themselves a legitimate trades people is also on the rise and now accounts for 15 per cent of such household thefts.

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According to the Garda, body pressure, such as pushing a door in, is the number one method used by unscrupulous thieves to gain entry to a home. One in five thieves gains access through an unsecured window or door

Burglars also commonly target back doors (23 per cent) and back windows (20 per cent). Front windows account for 8 per cent of incidents. More than one third of all burglaries during winter occur during the four-hour window between 5pm and 9pm.

The Garda also warned it is aware of an increase in the number of incidents of people impersonating gardaí. Recent incidents of this type involve con men requesting to check cash held by an injured party as a result of an increase in counterfeit cash circulating in the area, or that the con men need to check the security of the house as a result of an increase in burglaries in the area.

The Garda said its members will not cold call to a house and request to do either of these. The force also said any garda calling to a home will have identification. Should householders have any concerns about the person at the door, they should not answer the door, even if the caller is purporting to be a garda.

Genuine Gardaí will always provide details to allow householders to confirm identities with the local Garda station and will be patient while this happens, the force said.