Police warn of red flags with door-to-door salesmen

Vancouver police are warning residents of door-to-door solicitors who are raising red flags for officers.

Officers this week took a call from a resident in the east Vancouver area reporting suspicious people who were going door to door asking for donations to send care packages to deployed soldiers, Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.

The officer did some digging and found that the solicitors represented a for-profit organization and that those going door-to-door get a commission, Kapp said.

“Some of the money ‘may’ go to care packages according to their representative,” Kapp wrote in a city-wide message to users of Nextdoor, a neighborhood social media network site.

She said the company, which she did not name, does not have a city permit to solicit door to door, Kapp said.

“I’m not aware of any actual fraud that’s occurred here,” Kapp said. “It’s not a scam; we’re just warning people that this is going on.”

Kapp reminded residents of the safety concerns that exist when opening the door to strangers and asked citizens to call 911 for any suspicious activity.