POLICE have warned of a shocking scam which is doing he rounds in south Warrington.

Officers in Lymm say the bogus scheme sees the location of homes occupied by vulnerable or elderly people sold on to criminals.

The scam itself sees people going door-to-door claiming to be on a prison rehabilitation scheme, with suspicious people trying to sell items.

Cheshire Police is warning people not to be fooled by the scam and not to buy from such individuals.

In a statement, the force’s Lymm Police team said: “We have received multiple reports of males knocking on doors claiming to be from prison rehabilitation scheme trying to sell items on doorsteps.

“As previously stated, this is not a genuine scheme.

“The scam is usually carried out by young men who go door-to-door selling household products.

“They carry a fake ID and claim to be recently out of prison or on probation, and that this is a legitimate rehabilitation scheme.

“The reality is the household goods are supplied by a man who employs them. A group of young men are dropped off to work an area, and then collected by the same man later that day.

“The knockers’ role is to establish where elderly or vulnerable people live, and this information is then sold on to other criminals.

“If they come to your door, the advice from the police is to phone 101 to report them. However persistent they are with their hard-luck stories, do not buy from them.”