Some people are going door to door in several Seattle neighborhoods pretending to be members of the UW Rugby team. They try to sell homeowners a magazine subscription, saying the funds will go to help the team pay for a trip to Australia. The team decided to put a message on their website to warn of the fraud and offer a real way to donate to the team (even though they aren’t going to Australia). Thanks to our friends at the West Seattle Blog for first reporting the problem.
Husky Rugby team warns of door to door fraud
Over on Queen Anne we had a guy come up and claim her was selling magazines for the UW ROTC. He also eluded to the fact he lived up the street.
Are these the same guys that were selling meat door-to door?
Howdy Doodle – No the guy was not selling meat door to door, rather naked house cleaning and odd job service.
Some guy just came to my door saying (and signing) that he was from a group that represented the deaf & blind. He didn’t ask for money, he just wanted to know if anyone in the house or any of the neighbors was deaf or blind. My first thought? I wonder if this guy’s canvassing for folks that might be easy to burglarize.
Elude means to avoid.
Allude means to imply.
Since this is fraud, feel free to call the police.
Thanks so very much for the grammar lesson, SPG.
A guy came to our door last week claiming to be from the UW Golf Team and selling magazines that would also benefit Children’s Hospital and showed me a check that his “aunt” had written who worked at Childrens. He seemed somewhat off, so I declined. He then got extremely mad, swore at me and stomped off. Time before that, we did buy the magazines and invited the lady in for something warm to drink because it was freezing. She took our check, added a couple of zeros, cashed it with her “employer” and we never saw any magazines. We eventually received our money back, but we’re batting 0 for 2. I’d be extremely suspect of door to door magazine sales around Ballard/Sunset Hill.
Last week a guy with shoulder-length brown hair came to our door selling books/magazines for his soccer team, the “Strikers”. He started by saying “My mom told me to apologize if I am interrupting you” and I immediately became suspicious because he looked like he was 25. He was wearing a red soccer jersey and asked if I’d read about his team in the paper. His sob story was that the team was going to Italy, but some of his teammates weren’t able to afford the trip. He handed me a laminated sheet with various book/magazine titles on it and flashed a handful of “receipts” when I asked if there was a website I could go to instead (my usual blow-off response). He was pleasant when I declined, but asked what my name was and which neighbors of mine he should go to next. I didn’t give him any of the info he was looking for, but the whole thing left me feeling very very uncomfortable.
I wonder if we should start taking pictures of these visitors with our cell phone cameras (assumption of ownership, I know) and post online — this blog? Based on the response (smile vs. run away) we can learn a lot and in the process deter the nefarious characters.
and this one time, at band camp…
QA Hill,
You’re very welcome. How’s the weather over there? Your weather is no doubt similar to ours. Whether these grammar lessons are noticed or not, they’re making me happy. When people forget their lessons on homonyms, the mistakes are far too common to point out. Sometimes I do like to point out an error or two.
Attention English teachers! Find the mistakes in the above paragraph to not win fabulous prizes.
The same young man with long brown hair who visited Dinah just left my place in Kenmore a few minutes ago, so they are still working the Seattle area. Fortunately I thought something was off with him and his friend, when he said that his mother was an oncologist at Children’s Hospital and he reeked of cigarettes. The spiel was exactly the same as Dinah described – to the letter. Glad I had the presence of mind to say no.
You’ll be interested to know that the guy with the long brown hair and his buddy were arrested yesterday by the Kenmore sheriff’s dept for not having a valid permit! Yay!
we just had a young man come to our home at 8pm tonight saying he was soliciting for the “Strikers” and selling magazines and childrens’ books that will also benefit Seattle Childrens Hospital. When my husband said we don’t keep any cash in the house, he said we can write a check and showed us some “receipts” from our neighbors. when my husband politely declined again, he got an attitude and repeated in an angry tone “well i SAID you can write a check, why dont you just write a check?” finally my husband slammed the door on him and pointed to the large sign in our front window that says NO SOLICITATION. the guy then yelled through our door “well sorry i dont go up to peoples homes and peek through their windows” and stomped off. he seemed shady to us… demanding a check? i dont think so!
Hi,
Its really true that people are going door to door in several Seattle neighborhoods pretending to be members of the UW Rugby team. and Husky Rugby team warns of door to door fraud, its great guys, really nice work.
Thanks guys for information.