Full Notification

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has seen an increase in the number of door to door solicitors and door to door scams recently, which is typical during the holiday season. This is the time of year when solicitors are hoping to find residents who are in the giving spirit. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind residents to be cautious when approached by any door to door solicitor. Be on the lookout for people selling magazine subscriptions as part of a contest or a charity. There is also a trend of people selling “care packages” to send to deployed military service members.

On December 7, Sheriff’s deputies located a solicitor in the Vandenberg Village area who claimed to be from a non-profit group called “Care Package Campaign”. The Ventura resident did not have the proper licensing or documentation that would allow him to legally solicit in Santa Barbara County. Sheriff’s deputies cited him for unlawful solicitation. They learned he was with a group of about 15 people working for “Care Package Campaign” who were dropped off in the area to solicit funds. Upon further investigation, it was discovered “Care Package Campaign” is actually a “for-profit” group that pays solicitors 25% of the money earned based off of donations. There are several warnings and news articles posted on the internet about this group. The group has been soliciting in the Santa Ynez area.

The Sheriff’s Office has the following tips for residents who encounter door to door solicitors.
The following set of circumstances may indicate you are in jeopardy of being scammed by the seller:

1. A young person in their late teens to late twenties wearing unprofessional attire claiming to be part of a sales contest for education or charity
2. May carry and present a laminated card with a sales chart indicating prize levels
3. May state they represent a subscriber listed on a sales receipt
4. May indicate they are from out of State
5. May be walking door-to-door with no obvious access to a vehicle
6. May be verbally pushy and make repeated demands to enter your home to use the bathroom, get a drink of water, and get out of the weather or ask to use your telephone to call their employer

Some tips to avoid door to door scams:
1. You can always choose to NOT answer the door.
2. Display a "No Solicitors" sign on your property
3. If you're uncomfortable, ask the salesperson to leave your property.
4. If you do answer the door, don't open it wide and don't invite the salesperson into your home.
5. If you do open the door and they won't leave or they try to stick their foot in the door, scream, yell at them; shout for attention. Also call 911.
6. Don't buy anything without confirming if the business is legitimate and that the solicitor has a license to solicit in Santa Barbara County.
7. If you buy something, remember that law enforcement cannot trace cash transactions easily. If you pay with a check, you are giving your personal information and banking information to a person you don’t know.
8. Call law enforcement; try to give a good description of the individual such as identifying marks, tattoos, scars, hair color, height, weight, type of clothes the person was wearing. Other useful information would include if they had an accent, if the individual was male or female and how many people were involved.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office wants its citizens to be safe this holiday season and avoid becoming the victim of any crime. We want to remind our residents to be vigilant and mindful that there are criminals who are looking for crimes of opportunity and ways to take advantage of individuals who are preoccupied with the “busyness” of the holiday season.