Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Door to door scam - young man claiming to be from a youth community project
I just had a young man knocking door to door on our street on the ladder, claiming to be an ex-offender trying to get on the straight and narrow. He said he was selling household projects through something called the 'Youth Community Project', for which he had a laminated card that he showed me, and that he got up to 80% of the price of the items to go into paying for a shelter and hot meals.
I said I would buy something and he then convinced me to buy 3 items (saying if I bought three he would get a whole week in the shelter). It wasn't until he started 'adding up' the prices and said £20 for a limescale oven cleaning cloth that I got a shock and said no I couldn't afford all three items at such a price, but I was still too embarrassed and confused to say no entirely. I said I could only buy one thing and he then charged me £25 for it - it was a pack of 4 cloths! As soon as I closed the door I realised I'd been completely scammed. I then googled it and found lots of other people mentioning the same scam and a couple of local news articles.
Please be aware and don't fall for it like I did!
I'm also a bit concerned because I found one local newspaper story saying this type of scam has been used as a way of scoping out places for burglaries too.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fergus on
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Just had a similar experience this afternoon.
Door to door "Salesman" trying to sell cheap household goods. He was standing right up against the door when I opened it as I was expecting a delivery.
I told the man I was not interested after seeing the bag but he kept on trying to tell me his story. This had happened before a few months ago and my wife was quite intimidated.
He started getting quite aggressive and confrontational when I wouldn't let him speak and I asked him to leave. I then shut the door.
He starting shouting through my letter box when I told him I had to go back to a work call. He then left. My wife confirmed the description of the man before and it sounded like the same person.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Also similar caller this afternoon (south end of the Ladder) though not right up against the door.
'Thanks, but no thanks' (have no need of the goods offered, anyway) and repeated and he went onwards.
We have a door chain and I engaged it noisily which may have been a useful signal - I recommend them.
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