Received this information from various neighborhoods (Breckenridge,
Amberwood, etc.). It is long, but gives details of the door-to-door
"begging" that is now taking place.

The short version is DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR TO PEOPLE YOU DO NOT KNOW. EVEN
IF THEY LOOK INNOCENT AND HAVE A GOOD STORY, BY ALL MEANS DO NOT GIVE THEM
MONEY. THESE SCAMMERS COME IN ALL AGES AND COLORS-DO NOT BE FOOLED. WE CAN
PREVENT THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY BETTER THAN THE POLICE BY USING SOME COMMON
SENSE - DON'T GIVE MONEY AND CALL 911.
-Anne Lerner, Winding Woods Neighborhood Watch


PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR STREET/NEIGHBORHOOD Oh my
goodness -- this happened to me yesterday! Our home is on North Akin
(near Fair Oaks.)
This adorable blonde pony-tailed girl came to the door. She
said her mom had moved in three years ago on a street off of Oak Grove.
She said her name was Elizabeth Lockerbee. She asked to come in for a
glass of water and I said sure. She said she had finished college in
Syracuse and was in grad school at U. of Miami. She was doing an
internship for the Discovery Channel to finish a Steve Irwin documentary
and needed to raise money for her trip. She mentioned this was her
mom's idea over and over. Again, no car in sight.
When I said I need to think about it, she got upset and said
today was the last day for sales. I asked her for her number (she gave
me a weird 480 number) and I told her I'd call her later.
Everything felt fishy (she smelled of cigarettes and was spaced
out) -- but she was so cute and spunky.
If this girl or these clean cut boys come to your door, I
recommend you call the police immediately. At the very least, I wish I
had gotten in my car to follow her. I feel so bad if any of our
neighbors were scammed.
Barbara

I'm sending this to everyone I can think of in this area. I
know several people who have had these people (male & female) come to
their doors -- and who did pull out their checkbooks. Please pass
along as you see fit.

As received from the Amberwood Assn.

Yesterday a teenage boy went to the door of a home in
Amberwood and told the homeowner he and his family had just moved in and
asked whether there were any homes in the neighborhood with teenagers.
He said his name was "Tim Hughes" and that he was attending the local
high school, although he did not know the name of the school. He said
he was a senior. The homeowner, who does not have kids, identified me
as the source of information about families with teenagers, saying that
I was the president of the neighborhood association. That homeowner now
believes the boy may have been using him to obtain information about the
neighborhood to get money from neighbors.

Later in the day, the same teen (Caucasian, medium
build, baseball cap and crewcut hair) went to another home in Amberwood
and said he was a junior at the local high school and was raising money
for a trip to London. He used my name as a supporter of the fundraising
effort and the homeowner then wrote the boy a check for a donation to
the trip. According to the homeowner, the boy had checks from other
neighbors.

I do not know this boy or anything about a trip to
London. I do not espouse any fundraising efforts as president of the
association unless the Amberwood Board has officially sanctioned a
particular activity. If that were the case, I would notify you
officially.

We do not know that this is a scam, but the facts are
suspicious and I wanted to alert each of you and suggest you consider
stopping payment on any checks you may have written to the boy. If it
turns out to be legitimate, he can explain his behavior and you may
consider donating to his cause.

Thanks to all of you I have heard from today!! This is
a smooth group so I am passing along various excerpts from emails I have
received today. All from inside Breckenridge. Please note: They were
still in the neighborhood YESTERDAY - see #2. Also, see #3 - These
people must have a license to solicit - ask for it!!!

#1

About two weeks ago on a Sat. a boy about age 17 or so,
fitting your description below, came to our door selling magazines for a
trip to London. The way he got into my house was that he said he was
home from college and his mom said he should come by and introduce
himself because he was taking a public speaking course in college and
they were selling magazines for his trip. He told me he lived off of
Frazier on a street called Hudson. He said his mom walks her two white
Pomeranian dogs in our neighborhood every day.

He also said he used to sell things here when he was in
Boy Scouts.

Anyway, I am normally very cautious, but he was smooth.
He was friendly, and kept referring to his mother.

I was about to write him a check, and then my inner
voice said stop! I told him I did not feel good about this, and that I
felt like something was up. I sent him on his way. I immediately
called a few close neighbors

to warn them that I thought this might be a scam.

I too saw checks and money that he had collected from
neighbors.

#2

A teenager came to our front door yesterday, and
provided the same sales pitch. I was immediately skeptical that he
wasn't in class. This was shortly after lunch and he mentioned a fund
raiser to earn money for a trip to London. I did not catch his name. He
didn't have a crewcut, but was medium build, brown hair -medium length,
and nervous and fidgety.

He showed me some laminated sales aids that listed
magazine subscriptions. He mentioned he would be happy to mow lawns or
wash cars if I didn't want any magazines. No Thanks.

He said his family just moved into Amberwood (said his
mother often walks her golden retrievers around Breckenridge) and he was
out meeting his new neighbors.

#3

young, nice-looking people are being dropped off in
other
neighborhoods as well, for scamming purposes..
Fisher Trail...a few days ago. Attractive young girl
claiming to be UGa
student, wanting to get points, and sell magazines for a
trip to New
Zealand. As my friend was talking to her out by the
mailbox, a policeman
pulled up and asked for her permit to solicit. None, of
course, so the
policeman took her away in a squad car.
This happened to me as home on March 14, 2003 when I
wrote a check made
out to "WWC (Worldwide Circulation) for be sent to
cancer research at
either Egleston or McDonald family house on Houston
Mill. The nice-looking
man, who reminded me of my son, was pleasant and funny
and claimed to be a
friend of my neighbor next door. When I called Egleston
and the McDonald
house, they said they never sent out young people for
solicitation. I
looked up "Worldwide Circulation" on the net, and found
them to be notorious
fund-raisers, and this kind of scam to their favorite
modus operandi. My
guess is that they are swarming the neighborhoods.


#4

There was a teen in our neighborhood on Jan. 26 who was
purportedly selling magazines to raise money for a college trip to
London. He said his name was Matthew and his mom was Karen Cole, I
think (never heard of her), and that she lived in the neighborhood. He
was asking for subscriptions to donate to local children's hospitals.
He had checks from several neighbors. I did give him a check but
afterwards canceled the transaction per instructions on the sales slip
(within 3 days). The company, World Wide Circulation, Inc., did return
my check with a notice acknowledging my cancellation. I am going to
keep a close eye on my bank account just in case this is a bank fraud
scam.

#5

The same boy (probably) came to me almost two weeks ago
and introduced himself and said that his mother who lives down the
street sent him to raise money for his trip to London. He went on and on
to put his mother in the middle as if she knows me real well. Finally, I
wrote him a check; immediately, after he left, I checked the name he
gave in our Directory and I could not find anybody by that name. My
friend also checked for me in the most updated version of the Directory
and couldn't find the name; add to it, the minimum amount he asked for
was on the high side. I became suspicious and went ahead and put a stop
payment on the check and had to close the account the next day.

#6

The kid came by my house too. I was not at home, but my
mom was in town and had a friend visiting. The friend went to the door
(but did not open it). He said basically the same thing, that he was
new to the neighborhood and came by to introduce himself, but he did not
give his name. She told him that she was house-sitting and that he
would need to come back later. He left and walked up the street. There
was no sign of a car. They said he came by about 11:30. He did not
come back.

#7

My suggestion is to ask residents to quit giving money
to unknown solicitors-- since this only encourages them to approach even
more homeowners, and it's risky opening your door to a stranger. (I
especially feel for the older residents and women at home with
children.) When I lived at Emory, neighbors banded together and did not
give money -- and the result was that this discouraged people from
hitting our neighborhood.

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