We have received a report of a distraction burglary in the Widmer End area.  A resident has been contacted via the telephone regarding their solar panels and wanted to arrange an appointment to service them.  On the scheduled day a male named Mark arrived  and proceed to carry out servicing checks which required him to access areas within the house.  A relative of the resident happened to be passing and had stopped by at the same time as “Mark” being there.  They proceeded to ask some questions about the company “Mark” was working for, to which “Mark” gave two company names (both of which are legitimate companies), although he carried no ID on him but gave a contact number.  Later checks revealed that neither of these companies had sent an engineer to the address and the telephone number did not exist.  “Mark” appeared credible and was able to answer questions on solar panels and gave no immediate reason not to be believed.

Please remember 

LOCK - Keep your front and back doors locked even when you are at home.

STOP - Before you answer, stop and think if you are expecting anyone. Check that you have locked the back door and taken the key out.  Look through a spy hole or window to see who it is.

CHECK - Even if you have a pre arranged appointment, check their identity card carefully.  Close the door while you do this. If you are unsure, look up the phone number for the company and call it, checking that the persons details match their employee.  Do not ring the number on the card as this could be part of the scam.