One or more fake collectors go door to door in Emmer-Compascuum and Weiteveen to ask for money on behalf of the Food Bank. The Zuidoost-Drenthe Food Bank never collects house-to-house and warns against fraudulent practices.
Chairman Ton Sleeking is shocked by the reports that come in at the Food Bank Southeast Drenthe: “A week and a half ago we received a phone call from a lady from Emmer-Compascuum. She said that someone on behalf of the Food Bank Southeast Drenthe came to her door to ask for a to ask for a donation. She became suspicious and therefore called us.”
The Food Bank never knocks on doors to collect money, says Sleeking firmly. “We always ask for donations directly from companies. Anyone who wants to can make a donation through our website.”
“Last week we heard a similar story from someone else. At his door, someone in a vest with the Food Bank emblem would have been asked to transfer 25 euros via mobile internet banking.” According to the collector, a package could then be put together.
Sleeking disputes that: “At current prices, a standard issue package is worth eighty euros. That person clearly does not know what he is talking about. Very annoying”, the chairman calls it. “Anyone can make such a vest or have secretly taken it with them. We don’t know what to do.”
Village interests Weiteveen hears from several residents that they have received a visit from the ‘Voedselbank collector’. “A villager has the man on screen,” says chairman Henry Schepers.
Ton Sleeking has shared the call to watch out on the social media of the Zuidoost-Drenthe Food Bank and himself. The post has already been shared more than 500 times. The food bank itself does not know of people who have fallen for the trick.
The board of Food Bank Drenthe will meet tomorrow about reporting to the police. Sleeking says that he will inform the other food banks in Drenthe about what is happening in the southeast corner.
A police spokesperson says that two reports from Weiteveen have been received by the police about a fake collector. Without a report, the police can do little, she says. She advises residents who do not fully trust the collector to always ask for identification and a collection permit, or to donate in another way, for example via the internet.