Baltimore County Police on Thursday urged residents to be cautious of unfamiliar faces in their neighborhoods in the wake of a reported scammer who knew residents' names and addresses this week in Stoneleigh.
"We do not recommend giving money to anyone that you do not personally recognize," police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathy Batton said Thursday. "There is a great deal of public information on the Internet that would allow someone to obtain the names and addresses of residents to customize a scam."
Batton's warning came on the heels of an email from the Stoneleigh Community Association President, Lisa Mathias, whose message was forwarded along to the Rodgers Forge community.
Mathias' email warned of a "probable scam artist" who was seen operating this week in Stoneleigh.
Described as a white male in his mid-40s wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts, the man was seen knocking on two doors on Ridgeleigh Road and calling for the homes' residents by name. The man then approached an elderly neighbor on his porch.
The alleged scammer, who said he lived on Rich Hill Road, told the man that his wife's car had broken down in the neighborhood and that they needed $40 to pay the towing company.
The next day, the elderly man saw the alleged scammer walking in the 900 block of Kingston Road, and had a neighbor call the police and report the previous day's incident.
Batton urged residents to "please call 911 immediately if you are suspicious of someone who comes to your home for any reason, which allows officers to respond to the area to identify the individual and determine if a crime is in progress."