Gardai in Westmeath have said they will be tracking "bogus tradesman" after a number of incidents, including one which saw an elderly man robbed.
There has been a noticeable rise in the number of scammers and criminals attempting to swindle people out of their hard-earned money in the last 18 months.
A number of Garda operations are in place to target the fraudsters, with three arrests made in Westmeath recently.