A recent (near) incident in Burghwallis should remind us all to be on our guard against the seemingly helpful approach by a caller – who is attempting a novel sort of scam.
Over the last 6 months, one of our residents has been contacted – several times, unsolicited, by a stranger purporting to help them check that their household security is up to date and effective. On each occasion the (female) caller has been very polite and solicitous, and had built up a good rapport leading to a suggestion that she should come over and have a cuppa and a biscuit and chat about home security.
At this stage our Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator was contacted to ask if this was something that they or the Parish Council had initiated. The resident was told that this was not the case, and that she should contact 101 to report it and see if it had happened elsewhere. Apparently there had been no other reports of such an approach.
Working on the assumption that the caller would actually appear on the doorstep, it was arranged for someone to be on hand to surreptitiously take photographs of the woman and her car. As it happened, she did not turn up, so the “danger” was averted, but a serious fraud could have occurred, costing a lot of money, creating unnecessary work, and bringing the resultant emotional distress.
The message is clear – do not allow anyone into your home without an appointment. AND even if they have an appointment, check their identity before allowing them in and always remember:
IF IN DOUBT – KEEP THEM OUT !