Survey on crime, bank info

Concerned citizen Dennis Clarke contacted Newsday saying he was approached by two young women while sitting in the veranda of his Curepe home last week.

The women claimed to be representatives of Lucent Market Research Ltd, a Tunapuna-based company and that they were carrying out a survey in the area.

However, when Clarke asked the pair if they had any identification to verify this, the women said they were not required to present any.

“It’s really unusual.

They were two young girls and they looked no older than my daughter who still goes to secondary school.

I asked them for some ID but they told me they weren’t given any by the company. I wanted to help them out all the same so I agreed to answer the questions.” Clarke said that he was told the survey would be on marketing approaches for different household items, but instead it took on a variety of different topics from personal banking information to information on criminal gangs.

“They started off asking me if I knew anyone who went abroad to fight for ISIS or if I happened to know of any drug blocks or gangs in the community. Then they went to asking me what bank I conduct my business with and if I am satisfied with the interest rates and stuff like that. It was very unusual,” Clarke said.

Another man who claimed to have been approached by people with similar type questions said he was concerned for the safety of the people conducting the survey.

“This isn’t safe at all. They are approaching random strangers and asking them very unusual questions.

Questions like that, in the wrong neighborhood, can get someone killed.” When contacted for comment, Catherine Rajkumar, a Project Manager with Lucent Market Research Ltd, said the information requested from respondants is kept confidential and the questions asked do not require details of any individual’s private financial records.

“The information that we request from our respondants is purely surface. We do not, under any circumstance, request people’s bank account numbers or social security pins.

As far as the information on crime is concerned, it’s part of a wider survey and the information gathered is kept confidential,” Rajkumar said.