Do not make your home a target for conmen and burglars

While the majority of people who knock on your door in an attempt to sell you something or to perform a service like window cleaning or read your gas meter are genuine, there are others who see your home as an easy target for burglary or to try and con you into falling for their trickery.

This is why it is always important to check that the person calling is who they say they are and that they have some form of identification on them at the time. There have been many cases where salespeople and criminals claim to be representing an official body, and have nothing to prove this, yet get away with duping homeowners.

If you do allow someone into your home they may be taking advantage of an opportune moment to steal from you, so it is necessary to identify them first before giving them access to your property.

As older people are especially vulnerable to dodgy salespeople and burglars coming round to their homes, a number of information guides have been published by Age UK to warn them about how to protect against crime.

Home security is something else that should be carefully considered too. This can prove to be the difference between an attempted break-in and crooks viewing your home as more trouble than it is worth.