Hi all
We just had someone knock our door claiming to be an ex convict now located in Dulwich who is doing a door sales program as part of their probation.
He wasn’t pushy but suspect it is a scam and people should be careful.
This was on Honor Oak Park.
selling cleaning materials?
Lol!
Yep
Yes, I had this a few years back, my partner was horrified to return home to me telling them about the guy I had purchased the overpriced microfibre cloths from ! You live and you learn !
Its been going on for years.
Heres a humourous clip from the 80’s
The last time I had a young man on the doorstep telling me this, I asked him for details about the program. He told me my question was wasting his time.
It seems possible that young offenders could be coerced into door-to-door selling, and that the lads themselves might be as fed up with it as we are to see them on the doorstep.
In the time of Covid, how do they take payments?
Salesmen make up stories to get sympathy and persuade people to buy things at inflated prices.
But I don’t think claiming to be an ex convict is very sensible!
Just had one of these guys doorknock us on the east side of Forest Hill - fairly pushy, but managed to turn him away without paying anything - might want to be aware if you’ve got elderly neighbours who could be less able to get rid of them!
From the Which? website
The scam: usually carried out by young men, who go door to door selling household products. They carry a fake ID and claim to be recently out of prison or on probation, and claim that this is a legitimate rehabilitation scheme.
The reality: the household goods are supplied by a man (traditionally from Nottingham, hence the name) who employs them. A group of young men are dropped off to work an area, and then collected by the same man later that day. The knockers’ role is to establish where elderly or vulnerable people live, and this information is then sold on to other criminals. If they come to your door, the advice from the police is to phone 101 to report them. However persistent they are with their hard-luck stories, do not buy from them.
If you buy anything from them, they also note where you keep your money.
I think we had them about 10.30 on Kilmorie. Annoyingly didn’t get to door in time.
Sunderland Road today.