Unwelcome caller

[angstinabaggyjumper]

Just been talking to a friend who is in her eighties and lives alone. She told me that last week she opened the front door to what she thought was the postman and instead it was a man selling cleaning products who walked straight in and sat down in her living room.
He said he was just out of jail and she bought £30 worth of goods and paid him she then realised he now knew the location of her purse.

He asked for a glass of water and luckily she has glasses and a jug of water in the living room so he drank that and asked for a sandwich, she said no but you can have a mince pie. She had to leave the room to get the mince pie and when she came back he had moved from the sofa and was hovering over the table with her purse on it.

Anyway he left and she checked her purse nothing was missing, she is now worried that he's cloned her bank details. I assured her he couldn't do that in 30 seconds am I right?

She hasn't told anyone else what happened because she feels stupid and believes her nearest and dearest would be angry.

I suggested she got a Ring door bell or some such and she said she thought you needed a mobile to get that can anyone advise me please?

Not only did he know where her purse was but he also might know that the owner lives alone, is elderly/unlikely to put up a fight and has sussed out a brief layout of her property.

These sorts of crafty people come back when they have an opportunity.

I would:
Take her to the bank to rule out cloning.
Encourage her to tell her family
Encourage her to ring 101
Get some really good security, ensure she has a phone by her bed so she can ring if she needs to
Set up a plan that she rings someone before bed etc or wear an alarm so she doesn't feel so cut off.
Arrange for someone to lend her a very big dog that might come to the door with barking all the way (and eats said sandwiches before the next burglar arrives).

I 'phoned the police and they weren't really concerned as there was no damage done.

I wonder if there's a way of a doorbell triggering the sound of a big dog and a lot of Beware of the Dog signs on the gate and door. She's too elderly for a dog.

You could get in touch with the Safer Neighbourhood Team (police) they tend to be helpful.

Please be aware that they do return . My late mum ( without anyone knowing) bought some tea towels from a man who came to her door. A few days later he returned and arrived as she was going into her house. He followed her in , ordered her to buy something and became angry when she wouldn't . She said he was behaving oddly and when she wouldn't look at the items he had in his bag , he threw some kitchen scissors across her kitchen . Police did take this seriously . Just awful . Your poor friend .

Thanks all for your concern and responses.

I have suggested an intercom to her, I could order from Amazon and have it with her by Christmas. The response has been a firm no unfortunately but I'm leaving it on the table and she might just change her mind.

If this happened last week, has your neighbour checked her bank account to make sure her card hasn't already been used?

This is a problem with the elderly (intercom) all the keeping safe technology is beyond them. How about basic security like a heavy chain and i have thought about bigger spyholes. On TV in American drug infested places you see people have almost tiny doors instead of spyholes.