Gardai fear a gang of up to five people are casing homes with a view to breaking into them.
It follows a spate of burglaries in the Raphoe, Lifford, St Johnston and Manorcunningham areas in recent days.
On at least two occasions the gang have been caught on CCTV but have been unidentifiable because they were wearing hoodies.
The gang have stolen various amounts of cash but have left behind other valuable goods such as laptops and televisions.
The gang are believed to have a certain amount of knowledge of breaking into houses.
It is understood the gang also has knowledge of householder’s movements.
Garda Crime Liaison officer, Sgt Paul Wallace confirmed they have reports of at least three burglaries or attempted burglaries.
He also confirmed that the burglars acted within a very small period of opportunity when they victims were out fo their homes.
He appealed to people to make more use of the community text alert scheme even if they are suspicious of the movements of people in their local area.
“In at least two of these cases the criminals had very little time but knew what they were doing.
“We would ask people to make the most of the community text alert scheme and to raise awareness of people acting suspiciously in their area.
“And with the with clock due to go back an hour next week there will be even more opportunity for these people to strike,” he said.