Beware hoax callers

Copthorne Drive was visited on Wednesday by a young door-to door salesman. He told me he was on a Probation Service scheme to help him earn some money so he could take up a plumbing course at college after Christmas. He said he came from Middlesbrough.

He carried official-looking documentation. Part of his pitch was to emphasise his appeal as a young man making good. 'Service with a smile' seemed to be his speciality and as a demonstration of this gave one of the most angelic smiles I have ever seen. It could melt a heart at 50 paces. He wanted me to inspect the contents of his bag.

However after I started to tell him politely that I was unwilling to proceed he switched instantly. I was reminded forcibly with a frequent use of f***ing that I was in a more fortunate position than him and he stormed off.

Looking on the web afterwards I came across a press release from the London Probation Trust warning people about such callers. (click here) They particularly target the elderly and vulnerable and the burglary rate often rises in the weeks afterwards. They never put young offenders in such a situation.

The advice was to report the incident to the Police via the non emergency 101 number. I did this but the lady who dealt with the call said that they had checked out such callers in the past and found them legitimate. She seemed to be saying that there were such
schemes in operation and was only concerned that he had been abusive.

When pressed she refused to give me details of any Probation Trust running such a scheme. I was troubled by the reply . Such callers might have a Pedlars Licence and thus be, in one sense, legitimate but I doubted the link to the Probation Service and the dodgy tale that went with it. I contacted the Cheshire Probation Trust who confirmed that they had no such scheme and that I had done the right thing in dialling 101. They promised to contact the Police to clarify their position and sent me a press release entitled 'Hoax Callers ' – click here.

Peter Kay

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