A friend just had a house-to-house charity collection on the doorstep.

Something that made me suspicious was that the collector explained that they don't use paper forms as people are concerned about security, so he puts it in his PDA straight away and it gets encrypted.

Tried phoning the charity's central fundraising department, no answer.

Phoned two local offices, no answer.

Phoned council switchboard, no answer.

No idea if it genuine or not, an ID/badge means nothing.

Sadly, scammers are getting so clever that I would not give to anyone who just turned up on the doorstep, however plausible they were, on principle. I do give to charities - there are many opportunities and ways to do so that are not traceable, if you don't want to give personal details to anyone - but give details and money out on the doorstep? Never. (except when Santa comes round on the Rotary/Lions trailer, but he's not visiting my road this year)

Your friend needs to get in touch with their bank immediately, even if it means closing the account and opening a new one.

Don't worry, no details were given, I was frustrated that I couldn't seem to get any confirmation about collectors in the area. I have had police collar collectors before.

If a list was put up on the web then that could be used nefariously and would be counter-productive. The solution should be phone-lines that actually answer the phone.

If anyone, and I mean anyone, who is touting for anything knocks on my door I just tell them "No thanks." If they insist I tell them to bog off. Simples.

The simple and effective approach eh? Never fails!