I don't know if i'm about to burgled..

Tosca3

Where I live we are encouraged to ring the none emergency Police number whenever these knockers descend. Usually the theft rate from sheds and garages jumps up in the following days.

kizkiz

Weirdly, we get these guys come round on a semi regular basis
Not one burglary in the road in the 5 years I've been here
You never can tell

kingfisherblue

We live on the very edge of our town and are surrounded by fields. Last year my mum answered the door and it was a similar scheme. She was in her late 70s and it frightened her. He had been quite insistent that she buy some cloths, but she refused and slammed the door shut. As we live in a decent area, she was worried about being burgled afterwards. I live round the corner, so I went round the village looking for the lad. I spotted him knocking on another neighbour's door and rang the police (main switchboard, not 999). They had a PCSO in the next neighbourhood and sent her over.

She spoke to the lad and looked at his licence and ID. She asked how he had arrived, and he replied that his boss dropped him off from a minibus, and that it would collect him shortly. Both the PCSO and I waited with the lad until the minibus arrived. The PCSO rang in the registration plate and the details of the company that were printed on the bus. She then spoke to him privately. I also had a chance to speak to him, and it seems that the scheme was indeed legitimate. However, I pointed out that the majority of the people on our estate are elderly and possibly vulnerable, and that it was inappropriate to send young lads selling things from door to door. The PCSO referred to some guidelines stating that these schemes were supposed to avoid vulnerable people (having been told this over the walkie talkie). The boss agreed that no one over 60 should be approached, and said that the lad should have apologised for disturbing my mum and left as soon as he realised that she was elderly. I suggested that my area, known for having a large pensioner population, should be avoided in the future, and the PCSO agreed. The chap, who had travelled with several young lads from North Yorkshire, was asked to leave the area and not return. He did this and as far as I know, he has not been back since. Incidentally, we live on the Merseyside/Cheshire border, so quite a distance from North Yorkshire.

So,whilst some of these schemes are scams, it appears that some are not. However, it is always a good idea to ring the police just in case. At least you are aware, and can take extra precautions with your property. As it is the run up to Christmas, presumably thefts are more frequent, especially with higher value goods.

Use your alarm - check the internet for a manual if you don't have the original. Buy strong bike chains and use them to secure the bike and tools to something in your garage (I would consider securing them above my head, to the joists, but it depends on what you have available). Make sure any ladders are also secure, so that they cannot be used to access your house. Keep windows and doors locked at all times, even when you are at home. You might have a downstairs bathroom where you leave the window open - I only have ours open for ten minutes after a shower, and then it is closed again.

Make sure that keys are not visible or accessible via the letterbox - a low table in the hall, with a bowl for keys, is easy for thieves to reach with a piece of wire. Instead, put your keys somewhere accessible for you, but not others. If you don't have a key cupboard, consider keeping them in a cardboard box with a lid on it - easy to access in case of a fire, but harder for a thief to get the keys.

Even though you might not have close neighbours, consider asking them to look out for any strange cars, particularly if they are parked in a slightly odd, out of he way place. Warn them of your experience, just in case.

The local police may be able to give you more specific advice on keeping your home and belongings safe, and you probably know all of the above, but still worth considering. When we work towards the crime prevention badge with Brownies, I am always amazed at the number of people who don't take basic precautions, yet the Brownies live in an urban area about four miles from where I live. They often ask why doors should be locked if someone is in the house, and find it hard to believe that some people are burgled when they are actually at home.

I do hope that you are worrying for nothing, and that you and your belongings remain safe.

Hermia

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Its the ones that come round with the questionaires asking what you do to try and find out when your at home thats the ones to watch out for!

I had these last week. Two scruffy young blokes pretending to do a survey for a made-up company. The moment they realised people were in during the day they didn't look happy.

OP - I would give yourself a new front door as a Christmas present. You don't want to be showing off the contents of your garage to everyone who visits the house.

This is the prime burgling time of the year so everyone be careful. Remember to take the boxes for any expensive Christmas presents to the tip rather than leaving them out for the dustman. Last year my neighbour put out a Macbook box and one for a gaming system three days before bin day. She may as well have just put a sign on her house saying, "Burglers, look what we have!"

claire16c

I've read about this being a scam, but also that these schemes do exist.

And this thread seems to say the same! So I'm none the wiser.

GobbledyGook

If you contact your local police station they'll be able to tell you if it's a legitimate scheme. If it's a well known scam in your area it may even be on their website.

Tbh though it sounds like you could do with a new front door as anyone coming to your house could be someone dodgy. We were burgled years ago by a man who delivered parcels and realised how many people leave valuables easily accessible.

Hermia

claire16c wrote: »

I've read about this being a scam, but also that these schemes do exist.

And this thread seems to say the same! So I'm none the wiser.

I wouldn't buy anything from anyone at the front door. It doesn't matter to me whether the scheme is legitimate or not. Firstly, I don't want to end up on some sort of mug's list. Secondly, the items these people sell are not that great quality. I don't need more clutter! Thirdly, I am not convinced that sending people door to door is the best way of helping them. My friend works in a prison and she says in her area they do not use these schemes because they don't tend to lead to any long term employment opportunities. Face it, if people give you money because they feel sorry for you then how is that going to help someone's self-esteem or sales skills in the way that accomplishing a genuine sale would.

vegasvisitor

I hope OP is just worrying over nothing, but I can relate to this worry after something that has happened to us recently.

I keep telling myself that this is a bit silly... I came home quite late one night last week to a note at my door saying that a parcel had been delivered in error and was for their husband's birthday that week. The person had the same first name as me but different surname. I thought it quite odd that I didn't even recognise the name, and I was at first a bit reluctant to call the mobile number on the note. I googled the name first, to discover that a person of that name in our town (but has since moved to another local town) had been sentenced to two years for fraud in 2010. I then thought for a minute and decided to call to at least get some sort of explanation. Well the explanation I got was that they get parcels delivered to a relative because it's difficult to get parcels delivered to their town. (believable slightly, due to location). The town mentioned on the phone matched the news story location. So it would appear to be that person. She then said that the last two letters of the postcode were mixed up and that the driver struggled to find number 4 (our street doesn't have a number 4). She had since received her parcel though (within an hour and about 9pm...odd). I went to tell the next door neighbour. They confirmed that someone had knocked their door also to ask about the parcel. I then checked the switched around postcode to discover there's no number 4 at that postcode either. Odd.

I'm curious what people think this could be about (if anything). Neighbour mentioned calling police just to note what had happened and to see if they had any concerns, but we decided we were being silly and it was probably nothing.

claire16c

Hermia wrote: »

I wouldn't buy anything from anyone at the front door. It doesn't matter to me whether the scheme is legitimate or not. Firstly, I don't want to end up on some sort of mug's list. Secondly, the items these people sell are not that great quality. I don't need more clutter! Thirdly, I am not convinced that sending people door to door is the best way of helping them. My friend works in a prison and she says in her area they do not use these schemes because they don't tend to lead to any long term employment opportunities. Face it, if people give you money because they feel sorry for you then how is that going to help someone's self-esteem or sales skills in the way that accomplishing a genuine sale would.

I agree.

It's just the burglary thing that doesn't seem to be clear.

meritaten

I was a bit suspicious of a young lad who was 'selling' door to door and rang the police. apparently they had a licence to do so - and I felt quite bad I hadn't bought anything! and tbh crime didn't seem to go up afterwards.