Beware of confidence tricksters

by K. K. D. Premalal -Matugama Sp Corr

Have you ever become a victim of confidence tricksters? If you have not, you might be the next target.

Who are confidence tricksters? They are the people who deceive you to get monetary or other personal gains. Their modus operandi may vary from person to person.

Once a group of young men came to a remote village in Matugama posing as employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board. They were very busy with marking trees with yellow paint. When a villager wanted to know what they were doing, he was directed to meet a 'higher official' seated in a parked vehicle. The officer told the villager that the trees marked with yellow paint would be cut down by the Electricity Board.

When the villager found that one of his jak trees had been marked, he pleaded with the officer to save his tree. Then the officer had demanded Rs. 2,000 to spare the jak tree. It later came to light that so many other people had parted with money to save their trees.

On another occasion, two youth were waiting at a deserted place looking at a small piece of paper. A young couple was passing them. They were asked whether they knew a particular address. When the woman was trying to read the address, one youth snatched her gold chain and ran away.

Recently, a gang of robbers had come to a house in Pitigala and opened the garden tap. The water was continuously flowing and the inmates had heard the sound of the running tap. The owner of the house had reprimanded a domestic help for not closing the tap after using it. He opened the front door to close the tap and the robbers forced themselves into the house. Putting a snake into the house is another tactic adopted by robbers. When the inmates see a snake, they panic and try to open the door to get rid of it. When the door is opened, robbers enter the house.

In another incident, several people had gone to a house of a businessman in Alutgama posing as CID officers. They had told the landlord that they wanted to search the house.

The owner of the house was asked to remove money and valuables. When he did so reluctantly, the robbers had grabbed them and run away.

Street vendors and pedlars have been constant threat to the safety of the houses. People who come posing as vendors survey the house. Sometimes one of them asks for a glass of water. When the householder goes into the kitchen to bring water they rob the house of valuables.

Matugama acting Headquarter Inspector W.D.P. Krishantha told the Sunday Observer that people could take many precautions.

"Never allow vendors to come into your house. When you leave the house for long periods make arrangements to look after it. There are also modern cameras and other technological devices to safeguard your house. If somebody comes posing as a policeman check his identity and inform the local police station".

The public can help the police to minimise crime and violence. All the information given to the police will be confidential, he said.