Fake Saint Catherine's fundraiser door-knocking in Scarborough
Saint Catherine's is urging people to treat any door-knockers as suspicious as they don't do that method of fundraising.
A charity on the Yorkshire Coast is making people aware that they do not do door-to-door fundraising.
Saint Catherine's says it is after an incident in the Newby and Scalby area of Scarborough.
Susan Stephenson, who is from there, said:
"Somebody was going door-to-door saying that they were collecting for Saint Catherine's. We were made aware of it by somebody contacting us here at the hospice and the fundraising department. We thought it was important to let people know and just to be extra careful at the moment.
"So anybody that's doing anything for Saint Catherine's will have something called a letter of authority. This is something that comes out from our fundraising department and it's sent out to everybody that's doing legitimate fundraising on our behalf, so people should always be able to produce that if they're asked for that.
"In the case that we were made aware of, the person did ask for ID and the person that had come to the door made up an excuse. I think they said something like 'the law had changed' or 'it wasn't necessary now' but that isn't the case.
"No door-knocking is nothing to do with the pandemic, it's just something that we don't do and have never done. We obviously do do fundraising but we do it in different ways; so we have events and we encourage supporters to do their own events, whether it's challenges or fundraisers they want to do in their own home or business.
Susan has this advice:
"Always ask for ID and be on your guard. There are lots of genuine people there that are collecting and doing good work for charities, but if you feel suspicious then there's probably a reason for that. I would just advise people to shut the door and contact the charity or the police."
Anyone who is suspicious of any fundraising activity can call Saint Catherine's on 01723 378406 and the police on 101.