Doorstep sellers in Norfolk are posing as a government broadband scheme
Trading Standards in Norfolk has told people to be careful about who is knocking. ISPreview reports that Norfolk County Council’s Trading Standards department has issued a cold calling alert after several cases of fake doorstep sellers pushing broadband were reported in the county. According to the notice, three people in orange hi-vis vests have been going door to door around King’s Lynn, saying they were part of a government broadband scheme and asking residents to pay to register for it.
The payment is the part that gives it away. Real government-funded broadband schemes exist, and most of them ask a household for nothing at all. The one a caller could most plausibly name is the gigabit voucher scheme, which pays a grant towards a build and is applied for online through a registered supplier, not collected in cash on a doorstep. It also stopped taking new projects at the end of August, so nobody can sign you up to it this week whatever they are wearing.
Real broadband sellers do knock on doors
This is the awkward bit, and it is why the trick works. When a network finishes building a street, knocking on doors is one of the ordinary ways it tells people the fibre is there, so somebody turning up to talk about broadband is not on its own evidence of anything. What separates the two is behaviour rather than a lanyard. A legitimate visit will leave you with something to read and go away. Pressure to decide on the spot, a payment taken at the door, or a request for your bank or card details is the tell, whoever they claim to be sent by.
What to do if someone turns up
Declining costs you nothing. Take a leaflet if the offer sounds interesting, shut the door, and do the checking yourself afterwards. Never hand over payment details on the step. Never agree to a follow-up visit either. If you have already signed something at the door you are probably not stuck with it, and our guide to the broadband cooling off period sets out the window you get to cancel and how to use it.
If it is the company you are unsure about rather than the seller, are altnets safe? covers how to check a network is genuine before you buy anything from it, and our availability checker will tell you which networks actually reach your address, which is a quicker answer than anyone standing on your path can give you.
Two things are worth being straight about. This is one county’s alert reported by one outlet, so there is no way of knowing whether the same crew is working anywhere else, and no arrests or amounts taken have been reported. ISPreview says anyone in Norfolk who sees doorstep cold callers should ring the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or Norfolk Constabulary on 101, and 999 if they feel intimidated or are worried about a vulnerable neighbour.