Oct 15 2008
Door-to-Door Scams
The “new” scam we’re being alerted about is the “Door-to-Door” sales/charity scam.
The perpetrator will claim to be selling books, magazines, or other items from a catalog, often with a story about earning college tuition, benefiting a charity, or other benevolent or educational goals.
They ask for cash, and can be very insistent about getting orders. They will often lie about living in the area, as people tend to be less suspicious of supposed neighbors than utter strangers.
However, these crafty thieves are only lining their own pockets, and there is no fundraiser or tuition.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop these con-artists cold, as well as helping out legitimate earners. Most communities require solicitors to register before they start going door-to-door. It’s a simple process usually completed in five minutes at the local police station, and all one needs is a photo ID to register.
If some one, of any age, knocks at your door with a sales catalog, ask to see their copy of the registration. If they don’t have one, let them know they need one. If they are just out to rip people off, they will leave. In that case, help your community by calling the non-emergency line of your police department, and give a description of the perpetrator. You could end up protecting a neighbor whose heart is in the right place but couldn’t recognize a scam when it came calling.
