Protecting yourself from door-to-door and courier fraud

In this section:

What you can do to stay safe

Here are some tips to stay safe:

• If someone knocks at your front door claiming to be from a company, first check their ID. If you’re not happy, don’t let them in.
• Never call the phone number on a salesperson's ID card to check them out. Ask them to wait outside, shut the door and find the company number on the internet. If they’re genuine, they’ll understand.
• Banks and the police will never call you to verify your PIN. They won’t ask you to withdraw money or buy or send items on their behalf for investigations. Hang up if you get a call like this.
• Always verify suspicious calls by contacting the organisation using a trusted phone number. Calling 159 will put you through to your bank. If calling back from a landline after a suspicious call, wait a few minutes as criminals may stay on the line after you hang up. Alternatively, use a different phone line to call your bank.
• Never transfer money or make purchases on behalf of someone you don’t know.
• If it's an emergency, call the police on 999.
• Report suspicious activity to Report Fraud, the UK’s national cyber crime and fraud reporting service.

Next: Reporting door-to-door or courier fraud