Last Friday my gran who is 97, partially sighted and has difficulty walking, was taken in by a con man! It was about 8pm when he knocked on her door claiming he was from the gas company, telling her there was a gas leak and could he come in to check everything was ok. Well despite our pleas to her never to let anyone in when she is on her own, she let him in. About half an hour later she realised her money, £30, had disappeared from her purse! This is the second time in 12 months that it has happened to her. Last time a man claiming to be from the council came in and asked her if she wanted her large conifer tree cut down (it must be 100ft tall) and by pure coincidence she had only been on about getting it cut down a few days before so thought that one of us had arranged it for her. Anyway he left telling her he would be back but needed a £50 deposit but as she only had £10 on her that is what she gave him! As soon as she told us the next day we sussed he wasn't genuine and called the police.
Tonight the old lady across the road has been robbed by a man pretending to be from Age Concern. Apparently he just went in, invited, saw her bag on the chair, grabbed it and ran off! Now this lady is in a wheelchair and was totally unable to stop him and of course she, like my gran, is very upset that people can do this to others.  It makes my blood boil also. The police can't really do anything because they can't give a proper description due to the fact they don't see well at their age so wouldn't be able to identify any possible suspects!

Just wanted to sound off a bit but it hasnt made me feel any better.

Know how you feel my great aunt who is also in her 90's was mugged a few months back.
The b******* must have followed her to the Post Office watched her draw out her pension and
the winter fuel payment and then started to follow her home, knocked her to the floor grabbed her bag
and ran off.
My great aunt was left bruised, shaken and unable to get up from the pavement.
Police wanted her to go to hospital etc.

I hate people that do this especially to the old and vulnerable.
All I hope is that karma kicks in and they get theirs tenfold for doing such wicked things.

Hope your Gran is ok.

Something similar happened to an elderly woman in my street. A woman knocked at her door and said she was ill, and asked for a glass of water, while the woman had the water and kept the lady busy, her accomplices got in through the back door and robbed her of cash and goods. It is terrible. Luckily the police caught the gang responsible (also responsible for three other robberies) but that still doesn't help undo the damage our society suffers when people are asked to help, and perform an act of kindness - like helping a person who claims they are sick with water and comfort - only to be made a victim. I really feel for your gran, and I hope she is ok.

Been down to see her today and told her to be aware of any one knocking on her door. Told her no one from the council, age concern, gas,water or electric companies will come without appointments and that if they were coming we would know about it as we would have arranged it and so would be there. She has had a letter offering her a security box, coded, so that a key could be put there and then she wouldn't have to answer the door, thereby not having unwanted callers! 
Sorry to hear about your great aunt, boxercrazy, How people can pick on defenceless old woman is just abysmal!
OOOh just give me five minutes in a locked room with them and I promise I would be the only one leaving!!
Dee

Just a thought. If you have a dog that barks and can record it and give your relatives a tape of it barking then they can play it on a tape recorder while answering the door.

LOL Do I have a dog that barks?  yes all three of them make a right racket when someone comes to my door! What a blooming good idea, thanks Jimbuck. I am also going to print off a picture of a dog to put up at the front/back door with a sign saying 'I live here' on it.
I've asked a friend who lives across the road to keep an open eye on all the oap bungalows as she can see the whole row from her house, she said you very often get carpet sellers and the like knocking on their doors and not anyone elses' cos its obvious that pensioners live there, in fact there are quite a few streets that have a row of bungalows just for pensioners, easy pickings for con men I suppose :(

Thanks
Dee

Just a thought which might help people with elderly relatives.  A friend has an aged mother who lives on her own in a road where most people work and there had been several break-ins.  He asked me to get her one of those signs at a show showing a rottweiler's head with the message "I am on guard here".  In the three years she has had it, the houses on either side to her have been broken into, but hers hasn't (she goes out quite a lot during the day as well).  So perhaps it works.

I did hear an interview on the radio a few years ago with a reformed burglar, who said he would never touch a house where there might be a dog.  he said it wasn't worth taking the risk when most houses don't have one.

must depend on what kind of dog. My last dog would have attacked anyone that came into my house to rob me but the staffie would have licked a burgurlar to death. I can't imagine and OAP with a Rottwieler or any other big dog to be honest, but I would agree with having a tape with dogs barking, but would they remember to turn it on???