Warning after bogus house callers target elderly couple

Police are urging residents to watch out for “bogus burglars” and conmen calling at homes unannounced.

The warning follows an incident on Monday in which an elderly couple were targeted in Bradford Road in Brighouse by two men claiming to be from the water board.

A man called at the door saying that there was some sort of water emergency.

As the householder went into another room with the man, a second suspect then entered the house.

The two left empty-handed but officers regularly receive reports of people cold-calling at homes in the area.

People knock at the door unannounced and try a variety of tactics to either get into the property or offer to carry out some work before asking for the money up front to buy materials.

Tactics include pretending to be from a service provider such as a gas company or pressuring people to agree to some work being carried out.

Det Insp Ashley Hewitt, of Calderdale CID, said: “These people particularly target the elderly and vulnerable and we are asking people to keep an eye on their elderly neighbours or relatives and to be suspicious of anyone who calls on them offering to do work or to go inside the house for some reason.

“Genuine salesmen won’t have a problem with waiting on the doorstep and will not ask for money up front in cash.

“The first visit can sometimes be followed by another from apparently different people offering to do the work for a better price. Over a number of visits people can be pressured into parting with sums of money with little or no work being done.”

“They will ask for more money and come up with various reasons why extra work needs to be done. They’ll often be quite intimidating and will drive people to the bank to draw money out.”

Police advise residents only to have work done at their homes by established reputable firms that, ideally, have the recommendation of someone they know who has had work done by them. If they have any doubts they should call the local trading standards office.