Astonishing scam stats

One of Monday’s morning newspapers informs me that 365,000 people were scammed in Ireland last year and that there were 89 million irritating communications and 31 million distressing communications to members of the public in the same period.

The cost of all this fraudulent activity is estimated at €300 million, and while businesses are targeted the most often, individuals are also seen as potential targets.

Obviously older folk (which I am proud to be one of) are more at risk because of our lesser knowledge of phone technology, and so we, along with everyone else, need to be constantly on our guard.

Only last week I got an email telling me that my non-existent loan application for €15,000 had been approved and that once I provided my bank details, the money would be in my account inside the hour. When I failed to reply, I got two more messages with the name of my contact and a phone number that appeared to be from Cork! and they are everywhere, so they must be financially sustainable, whether privately or publicly funded. So maybe we too could look at doing more to help lonely, isolated and fearful old folk have a happy and care-free retirement.

However, as I hadn’t applied for any loan and had given no details on age, occupation, address, earnings or anything else, I decided that the offer of a €15,000 loan was too good to be true and very obviously one of the millions of attempts being made to part unsuspecting people from their money.

Apparently there is some regulator in place now and they want companies to implement certain precautions (of which I have no understanding) to try to beat the fraudsters and stop them from making millions from their illegal activities, so hopefully that goes some way towards dealing with the problem.

A friend of mine recently said to me that in his job, he comes across a huge amount of rural isolation and he believes every village and local community should have a Men’s Shed or some such place where older folk can meet, enjoy a cup of tea, have a chat and get away from their loneliness for a while. If there’s a will, there’s a way.

A reminder…

Down the road in Glinsk, Maria Fitzmaurice tells me that the Glinsk ladies are continuing with their gardening. This Saturday morning, June 24th, they are meeting again at Barlow’s (F45 EH27) at 10 am, continuing until 1 pm. So don’t forget to go along if you’re interested. All are welcome to attend. Who knows, you could be the new Diarmuid Gavin or Monty Don!

And finally…

We have just come back from a lovely walk up rural Lenamarla, and not for the first time, we marvelled at the wonderful peace and quiet.

The only sounds breaking the silence were the birds singing, the cattle mooing, and the sheep doing whatever sheep do. For the umpteenth time, we realised how lucky we are to live out in the countryside. Orchids, wild roses, ferns, and all kinds of shrubs and flowers were in full bloom, and one would have been forgiven for thinking that everything in the countryside garden was rosy.

And yet, as we thought about a piece in last week’s People where Cllr Tony Waldron blamed the lack of verge trimming for a couple of accidents that recently happened in the Ballintubber area, we realised that it’s not only in Ballintubber that the verges are left uncut; it’s all over.

As a result of this inaction, the potential for accidents is certainly very much greater than it should be. I don’t know who should cut them, but something needs to be done, especially at crossroads and T-junctions where visibility is greatly impaired by long, overgrown grasses and briars.

For some reason, back in my younger days when we were supposedly a poor nation, I don’t remember the verges being in the state they are today, so someone must have cut them back then. Maybe now that our economy is among the best in Europe again, someone could be hired to do them again?