Fraudulent charity collector in Fermanagh reported to police

The PSNI received several reports of a man who had no identification claiming to be collecting money in the name of local charity Cancer Connect NI.

Sergeant Laird said: “Observant members of the public realised that the man had no identification and contacted both the charity concerned and police. When the man was alerted to this, he made off prior to the arrival of police.

“He is described as being approximately 5ft 11in – 6ft tall, with medium-length dark brown hair and a dark-brown beard. He was wearing a blue raincoat and grey tracksuit bottoms, and had a Southern accent.”

Acknowledging that local people are very generous, Sergeant Laird added: “[We] would like to remind them that charities always need to be registered and have a license if they’re collecting in a public place.

“If you have any doubt as to whether a collection is genuine, tell the collector you’ll donate directly to the charity yourself, and report the matter to police or Action Fraud via www.actionfraud.police.uk.”

Sergeant Laird continued by appealing to anyone who has any information on the identity of the man appearing to be fraudulently collecting in Enniskillen on Monday, or who may have any other information that could assist with the PSNI’s enquiries, to contact the police at 101, quoting reference number 935 of 28/11/22.

When contacted by the paper, a Cancer Connect NI spokesperson thanked the public for their vigilance and the speedy alerts regarding the male collecting money in the name of the charity.

They continued: “It is very rare that Cancer Connect would operate street collections but in the event that it did, all volunteer collectors would carry or wear identification, have collection boxes in the corporate colour [purple] of the charity, and would be clearly labelled with the charity name and logo.

“Furthermore, they would have a copy of the street collection permit issued by the PSNI, in line with the regulations for public collections.”