Conman steals £300 from pensioner (From Your Local Guardian)

Conman steals £300 from Purley pensioner

2:40pm Monday 13th August 2012 in Top Stories By Nick Hitchens

A conman pretending to be a builder has stolen £300 from a vulnerable pensioner.

The man, described as white, 5ft 8ins, in his 40s, tricked his way into the victim’s home, Pampisford Road, Purley, by pretending he was working on the flat below.

Knocking on her door at about 11am Thursday August 9, the man, who has short mousey-coloured hair and was wearing workman’s clothes, claimed he needed to check the water in her flat, and she let him into her kitchen.

When the victim - a woman in her 80s - checked her flat, she discovered that more than £300 in cash had gone missing from another room and contacted police.

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Corrigan said: “It’s possible that there were two suspects involved in this incident and someone else has come in to the flat whilst the victim was distracted with the man who claimed to be a workman. We’d urge anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area to get in touch with us.”

Anyone with information should contact Croydon CID on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

DCI Corrigan added: “Residents should take care not to let anybody unexpected into their homes - however plausible or genuine they might sound at the door.

“Genuine traders or utilities people will always have formal I.D. on them and rarely turn up without notice.”