This really nice, presentable, funny young man arrived at our door on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He knew my surname and the names of some of our neighbours claiming that he lived just down the road and that his father owned a Window cleaning business. He and his brother's football team were on their way to Maine but they had to raise funds for a charity (St Judes) and then they would be sponsored to go on the trip. His dad had insisted that they come back the following week to clean our windows and gutters as he was not allowed to get anything for nothing. He told me how genorous the neighbours had been, quoting who had donated what. He had to raise funds for just 4 more children. I am currently collecting for a charity myself and my windows are in dire need of a clean, so I was really empathetic but thought that $96.00 was enough of a donation and I would only sponsor 1 child in the hospital for the year. He had a leaflet with the details. Stupid me it was all hand written, but presented in a nice folder. He even gave me a receipt and wrote his name Todd * on the receipt stating that he had to do this so that the company would know who to give the attribute the sponsorship to. I was please not to write charity on the check as he would need to put his name there to ensure it went to him and not another kid.
When they didnt arrive on the set date to do the windows I googled Todd on internet and found that there was indeed a youngster of that name in the village who played football. When they didnt arrive today I googled QSI and found all of these reports. Ive informed the police, who in fact had found and questioned the young men on the day, but they had a reasonable explaination for why they were in the village. They were sent on their way, but not before they caught me and perhaps many others in the village. Its too late to cancel the check unfortunately. When I asked who QSI is, he said "Our sponsors" and they would send me a thank you letter for tax purposes. When you hear of similar scams you always think it will never happen to you. Huh.
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