Ireland’s leading Protection Specialists, have warned businesses and private home owners to take extra precautions to secure their oil supplies, as unscrupulous criminals are seeking out fuel to sell as an increasingly valuable commodity on the black market.

During the final quarter of 2010 intervention specialists at Netwatch recorded a 15% increase in incidents where fuel appeared to be the intended target, compared with the same period in 2009 and thieves are targeting both businesses and residential premises. Residential properties, often without an intruder alarm, are being targeted for home heating oil, with criminals siphoning oil into transport canisters in the majority of cases. Given the quantities of oil involved, some people are not even aware that they have been targeted, but isolated houses in rural communities are particularly vulnerable.

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