AIBU to think this intimidating house buying letter should be reported to police?

[Blopi]

Friend’s elderly neighbours came back from holiday to find a letter delivered by person. It has made them upset and frightened.

It was addressed to them personally Mr and Mrs (surname)
They said that their home is too big for the couple and would be suitable for a 5 bedroom HMO. Willing to pay £Xk for it (properties have been selling for 10-15% more) and will visit them on Thursday at 11am to discuss things. Signed by Mr (common surname). No phone number or email address.

Her neighbours have zero intention of moving home as they have lived there for 58 years. They are upset on how they are targeted and wondering how did they get their names?

In the past I had these letters which have been sent to others down the estate. Though not intimidating like this letter, nor personalised.

Unfortunately my friend is working on Thursday. She would have loved to have seen if the person turned up and told

Should my friend phone the police on the non emergency line about this? As maybe something else dodgy going on

Of course this could easily happen! That's what PCSOs are for! Do you even know what a PCSO is? What it stands for...... (Clearly not. So I will tell you......)

PSCO stands for POLICE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICER.

Now that do you imagine they DO? 🙃

Hope this helps......

From THE COLLEGE OF POLICING.

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in the UK are uniformed members of police staff who work alongside regular police officers in neighbourhood policing teams to provide a visible, accessible presence in the community. Their primary focus is on crime prevention, public reassurance, and tackling local issues like anti-social behaviour, and elderly and vulnerable people being targetted by scammers, thieves, and fraudsters.

Roles and Responsibilities

PCSOs serve as the vital link between local communities and the police force. Their daily duties typically include:

High-visibility patrolling of neighborhoods.

Gathering intelligence and acting as the "eyes and ears" of the police.

Engaging with the public through face-to-face events, resident visits, and local businesses.

Supporting vulnerable people and providing reassurance after incidents.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and assisting frontline officers.

.

Well given I work closely with the police, usually in respect of missing children, grooming and exploitation and of their parents' criminal activities I think I know what they aer.

Well if you know what PCSOs are, then why on EARTH are you saying that they would not be able to help people who are vulnerable in the community, and being targetted by scammers and bullies? 😂

THIS IS LITERALLY THEIR JOB! TO LOOK AFTER THE COMMUNITY!

Oh dear.......... 😬 #awkward

😂

Unless you’re involved in the allocation of PCSO resources in the community, you know sod all more than the rest of us. Several posters have looked at the websites for their local force which encourages people to report the potential abuse of the elderly to them because it’s one of their priorities. Reporting it several days beforehand would have given them a chance to allocate a PCSO to attend on the day, rather than wait to see if anyone criminally minded turns up, only to find that there’s none available because they’ve been sent to deal with loitering kids the other side of town.

Do you understand now? Or do you still believe that because you have a passing association with the police, you’re privy to their staffing levels and priorities as a force?

Are you going to actually give the intimidating part for us to hear? Instead of just a general letter part of someone who is giving a pitch to buy a house and make an offer, that they can say no to and that's the end of it?

Take three photocopies and give 2 to trusted friends, and tell the Police to turn up on Thursday, and be on leave if you can. This is a threat. And the sender is also a thief who wants to cheat them out of megabucks.

Seriously though, it’s obvious and has been explained multiple times on the thread.. They gave her a time that they were going to arrive at the house. I know plenty of older people that would be intimidated by this. Probably even a few younger. It doesn’t take much more than basic empathy to figure this out.

It was last week.

@Nevernotmaybe They told her (not suggested) that the house ois too big for her, and that she must sell it (not consider doing so) at lower than the market price. They gave her (not asked her) a time and day for the meeting. Now, consider how a person who is elderly and frail would take these 'instructions'.

Oh. I hope the person is fine, and that nothing untowarsds happened. Still, the bit about the photocopies is important.

Just put on nite on the door on Thursday
I’m not interested in selling and I will not be answering the door

i really can’t see this is a police matter

The date has been and gone. All the info is in the updates by OP.

I am not talking about OP.

I am talking about being in receipt of a letter saying my home is too large and I should sell it.

I would ignore it. Why would I waste my time doing anything other than ignoring it.

And yes if a loved one received such a letter I would tell then to ignore it.

Ok. And what if this person then showed up on their doorstep?

And yes i am well aware that you were talking to the op. The way this works is. You will reply and then others will give their opinion on your reply.

As someone that works with the elderly. And knowing how vulnerable to those that prey on them for just beingelderly are. I find your reasoning absurd.

And please do think about the ramifications of your advice.

Its also within the realm of possibility that you don’t know how vulnerable the elderly can be to cold callers on the landlines they insist on having or the front door of the home they live in. In which case look it up on the internet.

There is a whole world of information out there.

this. If there weren't people of all ages with vulnerabilities, there would be no romance scams, no drive cleaner or roof scams, no investment or "you may be entitled to claims/refunds/compensation" scams.

Actually thank you for highlighting that. Vulnerability is all ages.

yup and even the most switched on and toughest of us can have our times of stress or weakness.

I wasn’t talking to OP.

As in I was not telling OP to ignore her neighbours. Which is why I said I would ignore the letter “it” not “them”.

I would ignore the letter were I in receipt of such a letter.

It’s fine you find that approach absurd. We don’t have to agree.

If you check another responder. The police have said they should be contacted in cases like these.

The person I was quoting seems to be doubling down on their advice.

Another response showed a message encouraging elderly people to report this to the police as its an illegal practice. I tell you its a scary world out there when common sense leaves the room.

Good job there are others out there to balance it out.

Did 'the police' actually say that or did a random person on Mumsnet say their other half was in the job and they said to report it?
There is no 'the police'. And what is policy in for example Devon and Cornwall may be dramatically different to what West Mids would say.
Personally I think the OP would have been better off reporting it to Trading Standards for their information, not action.
It's all by the by anyway as the author of the letter didn't show up.

have you not RTFT? The only identification on the letter was a surname and Mr. The OP said the surname was not an unusual one. What would Trading Standards do?

I dont have a 'passing association' with police, we work very closely with them as our multi agency and stakeholder partners in statutory front line services.

Im not involved of course in the allocation of PCSOs in the community but know enough about it to know that they are highly unlikely to do what you present. You can report things like that and should do of course, but the idea that they'll allocate a PCSO to spring out on the doorstep is somewhat fantastical. We often cant even get officers or PCSO's out to do welfare checks where we KNOW that someone is actually at risk.

Of course every area is different, perhaps there is a very lucky force area where they have resources for such things and this may be one of them, its possible of course, but not likely. Thats my professional experience.

Did you mean to be so rude?

Trading Standards in this instance would most likely do the much loved Mumsnet 'log it for information', because realistically in this instance that's all they could do. We have no idea of the prevalence of these letters but an analyst working for Trading Standards could use the information to build the intelligence picture. It might be a trend or a series or simply a one off.

The remit of Trading Standards is broader than many people think. This is part of their role. Why wouldn't this letter fall any under of this?

'Trading Standards use the information you give them to investigate unfair trading and illegal business activity, like rogue traders and scams.'

Source - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

What do you think the police would do?

Did you mean to be so rude?

Yup