The celebrations of Christmas and New Year are approaching and the fraudsters seem to have gone to work, appealing to the benevolent feelings of the public.
As has been observed in recent times, cases of begging on the streets and especially in commercial areas of cities have increased, as various persons approach the public and under various pretexts try to extort money from them.
Due to the fact that the Police have been on the receiving end of complaints in this regard, the public is advised to be extra cautious and citizens should be very cautious when approached by strangers and not to maintain an attitude of blind trust towards any conniving person.
Particularly during this period, we are likely to be approached by strangers in various crowded places, on the streets or in our homes, or even in various MSM page groups, asking for financial assistance and making various claims.
Another form of deceiving the public are incidents of hawking small items as financial assistance.
Further, fraudsters often choose to visit homes where vulnerable, elderly persons reside, either for hawking items or asking for financial assistance under similar false pretexts.
Therefore, it is stressed that begging constitutes a criminal offence and is prohibited by law.
It should be noted that some beggars may already be recipients of public assistance from Social Welfare Services, while others may be fraudsters pretending to have a condition or claiming to be in need in order to extract donations.
In addition, it is stressed that some may be acting as part of an organised scheme which exploits them and some minors may be forced by third parties into begging, which is expressly prohibited.
In view of the above, the public is invited to inform the nearest Police Station or the Citizen's Contact Line at 1460 when they detect cases of begging or if they become aware of any suspicious activity that seems to be related to these or similar cases, especially when minors are involved, to inform the nearest Police Station or the Citizen's Contact Line at 1460.
Finally, we inform citizens that according to the Law, any fundraiser can only be carried out with the permission of the Competent Authority, i.e. the Ministry of Interior and/or the Provincial Administration, while the Competent Authority issues a relevant Certificate of Authorization to the persons conducting the fundraiser.
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