28 people attended the first session of the year where Rosie from Adults Move did just that. She had us marching on the spot, moving our arms and well, hippie, hippie shaking.
After a discussion about the summer event where the options were a trip out or an afternoon tea and a short break, Reg and Dave gave us an update on doorstep crime.
This includes both telephone calls and at the door.
The main message was do not deal with Cold Callers.
They referred to Nottingham Knockers who will try to sell you something. If you buy they will then pass your details on to another gang and so on.
Members were asked to call police on 101 to report this sort of activity as they target specific areas.
They also talked about courier fraud where someone will call saying they are from the Police investigating a fraud at your bank. They will ask you to make a withdrawal from your bank and meet you to check the notes. They will declare them as fake and literally walk away with your money.
A common method is by saying they are from the Water Board and need to get access to the property. Any authorised official will have proper ID and you can get a telephone number to ring and check. Do not accept any ID at the door, these can be fake, and do not use a tel number given by the caller as that will be direct back to their gang but independently find a separate number to double check. A genuine representative will wait, a fraudster will do a runner. Alternatively ask them to call back when you have a friend or relative present.
Family Password - in the event you receive a phone call from somebody who says they are a family member and for example they have lost their money so are unable to get back from somewhere and need you to transfer some money into their account. This could be AI and of course not the family members account. At this stage ask for the Family Password because a fraudster would not know it.
Last but not least change your passwords monthly.
Criminals harvest information over several months or longer periods. If you change your passwords regular they are unable to do this. Use three random words. Even if the required password requires numbers, capitals or symbols eg thr55 Random word$.
Quite scary really what can happen so again the main message is Do Not Deal with Cold Callers.
2026