Bogus Anglicare helper hands out bushfire snack packages

Anglicare Sydney acting public affairs manager Sue King said she had been told a man with a white van was handing out fruit juice, apples and packets of chips in recent days.

"My understanding was he was questioned, said he was from Anglicare, but then he got in the van and took off," she said.

Mrs King said although the man didn't appear to be seeking donations, the incident was disturbing.

"I suppose these sorts of disasters lend themselves to people coming in," she said.

"We would be very concerned if people were coming ... claiming they're raising money on behalf of Anglicare when they're clearly not.

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"At this point we don't have any volunteers walking the streets, our volunteers are usually in our evacuation centres.

"Anglicare is collecting money, but we're doing it via our website, so we wouldn't have door to door knocking asking for donations either."

An Anglicare statement said the incident had been reported to police.

Riverina regional manager Melinda Carlyle confirmed the charity had no volunteers working as part of its disaster recovery team in the Jingellic region.

"At no time have we ever sent staff and volunteers out to individual homes or delivering food," she said.

"While this looks like an isolated incident, we are obviously extremely concerned that this is happening in an area where people are at risk of bushfire evacuation and are already feeling vulnerable."

"We wish to assure people that Anglicare staff and volunteers undergo police checks, have approved Anglicare ID and will be clearly identifiable as part of Anglicare."

Acting Inspector Troy Martin, of Albury police, said there hadn't been many incidents of fraud reported in this region during the fire emergency.

"Everyone needs to be vigilant," he said.

"If people attend seeking money, obviously check for identification."