Someone called to my door offering work
Roof repairs, tarmac, tree cutting, gutter cleaning, a man who needs to check something inside. Most callers are what they say they are. A few are not, and this is the one crime family where you are standing in front of the offender while it happens. This page reports what An Garda Síochána publishes about bogus callers, rogue traders and distraction burglary: how the routine works, what to do at the door, the free card your Garda station will give you, and what to do if you have already paid.
If someone is at your door right now
You do not have to open the door, and you do not have to give a reason. Keep it closed, or on the chain or limiter if you open it at all. Nothing legitimate is lost by telling a caller to leave their details and come back another day.
The Gardaí are direct about the rest: “If you are anxious and feel you are being targeted contact Gardaí on 999 or 112.” You do not need to be certain a crime is happening before you ring.
What this page is
A report of what An Garda Síochána publishes on doorstep crime, quoted and linked so you can read the originals. We are not the Gardaí, we cannot look into what happened at your own door, and we cannot tell you whether the person who called to you was genuine. What we can do is set out the checks the Gardaí publish, in the order you would actually use them.
What a bogus caller is, and what distraction burglary is
Start with the part most warnings skip. A stranger at your door offering work is not, by itself, a crime or even a red flag. An Garda Síochána says so plainly on its Crimecall page, and the distinction is the whole of it:
“While there are legitimate sales people calling to homes offering legitimate services and many people do routinely employ people offering work / services at the front door, some individuals (Bogus Callers) aim to take advantage of vulnerable people. This usually involves coercing a victim into handing out large amounts of money for little work or gaining trust to access your home.”
So the question at the door is never “is cold calling suspicious?”. It is whether this caller will stand being checked. A genuine trader will hand over documentation, give you a written price, and come back next week. The Gardaí’s own summary of the difference, from the same page: “Genuine trades’ people will not be offended by any enquiries the Gardaí may make and, indeed, usually welcome them.”
The Garda burglary and theft pages describe what the bogus version looks like in practice: people who “carry out very little work and charge exorbitant amounts of money for their services”. The Crimecall page sets out how seriously that is treated when it crosses the line:
“This behaviour may be criminal, with investigations of this nature not limited to but ranging from offences such as criminal damage, burglary, theft, deception to demanding money with menaces.”
Distraction burglary: the caller is not the thief
This is the variant worth understanding before it happens, because everything about it is designed to look like an ordinary sales conversation. The Gardaí describe it in three sentences:
“They will call to a home under the guise of selling a product or a service. They will keep the resident at the door talking for as long as possible. This is to allow time for an accomplice to enter the home through a different access point to steal items of value.”
The person at your door is the distraction. Nothing they say is meant to persuade you of anything — it is meant to keep you standing there. That is why the useful countermeasure is not spotting a liar, which is hard, but locking the back door before you answer the front, which is easy.
The other three methods
Poor work, no work, or a huge bill
They call claiming to be roofers, guttering experts or painters, and convince the resident that repairs are needed “or that they have worked on a neighbouring house”. Then, in the Gardaí’s description, they go “to the roof, attic, or hard to reach area of the house identified and give the impression that they are carrying out works, e.g. by hammering, drilling, painting etc.” On finishing, “invariably in a short period, they then demand payment by cash, often using threatening and intimidating tactics.” Some start work without permission and bill afterwards.
The deposit that buys materials
Once you have agreed to the work, “they will demand a deposit to purchase the materials to carry out the necessary repairs. Having secured the deposit they flee, never to return.”
A second visit for bogus charges
The one nobody expects. “Different member(s) of the same criminal group may return at a future date to a victim’s home posing as V.A.T. or Revenue Officials. They will demand money for ‘work’ already performed by them and seek further payments.” If you have paid a doorstep trader once, treat any later caller about that same job as part of it.
Who gets chosen, and when
Being targeted is not bad luck. The Gardaí say the home is “usually identified by them beforehand” and is “often the home of an older or vulnerable person who may be living alone”, with that information “gleaned by surveillance or ‘discreet’ / ‘innocent’ enquiries made by them locally.” They also return to people they have already succeeded with — targeting someone “because they have been ‘successful’ there previously.”
The timing is not what people picture. In the Gardaí’s words: “The majority of incidents occur during the course of the day between 9am to 4pm, between Monday and Friday.” This is a weekday-daytime crime, which is exactly when a household is most likely to have one person in it.
The reasons they give at the door
An Garda Síochána publishes the actual list of pretexts it sees. Reading it is more useful than any general warning, because the point of the list is how mundane it is:
- •Tree cutting / trimming services
- •Roof cleaning
- •Roof repairing
- •Window cleaning
- •Driveway power washing
- •Landscaping
- •Painting
- •Odd jobs
- •Charity
- •Sale of clothes
- •Carol singing
- •Gutter cleaning
- •Gutter repair
- •County Council
- •Garda – checking cash
- •Cash found outside home
- •Tarmac for sale
- •Replace fire extinguishers
- •Clean garden
The Garda list, in its own order, set in our capitalisation and with one spelling corrected. Note the two entries that are not trades at all: a caller claiming to be from the County Council, and “Garda – Checking Cash”. That second one is worth reading twice. An Garda Síochána is itself naming “a Garda who needs to check your cash” as one of the stories bogus callers tell at Irish doors — so if that is the story at your door, the Gardaí have already told you what it is.
Before you open the door: the chain, the back door, the side gate
The Gardaí publish this as a security check to run in order, and the order is the point. Every step happens before you have committed to anything.
- 1
Look before you move
“Are you expecting callers? If not look out the window to see the caller(s), make a note of their clothing, physical description or their vehicles description.”
- 2
Use the viewer
“Have you a door viewer fitted in your door? You are safer behind a closed door.”
- 3
Engage the chain or limiter first
“Have you a door chain / limiter fitted and the chain / limiter engaged? If you must open the door, use the limiter.” The 2019 Garda advice puts the order beyond doubt: apply the chain or door limiter before opening the door, not after.
- 4
Lock the back door before you open the front
“If you are going to open your door to callers, ensure your back door is locked before you do.” This is the line that defeats a distraction burglary, and it is the one nobody thinks of.
- 5
Ask for ID
“If you are going to engage, ask for ID – a genuine caller won’t mind.”
- 6
Make them come back another day
“Don’t be embarrassed to tell the caller to write their contact details down for you so that you can make an appointment with them in the future if you decide to.” Nothing legitimate is lost by a delay of a day.
- 7
Do not hire at the door at all
“Use recommended trades persons, avoid using the services of cold callers.”
And the sentence to keep if you keep nothing else from this page: “The basic rule is - if you don’t know the person at your door, you shouldn’t let them in.”
The side gate, and why it belongs here
A distraction burglary needs a second way in while you are held at the front. The Garda burglary and theft advice covers that route directly: ensure “that side gates or doors are robust, locked with good quality padlocks or deadlocks and that they cannot be lifted off their hinges”, and check them regularly for damage. Our home security checklist works through the rest of the perimeter.
On the Gardaí’s video doorbell line
The Garda checklist includes one more item we are quoting rather than paraphrasing: “Consider installing a video doorbell which links to your mobile phone, that way you don’t have to open the door to speak to the caller and can do so from the mobile device.” That is their advice, not a recommendation from us. This page sells nothing and links to no product, and a door viewer and a chain achieve the same thing for the price of neither.
The bogus caller card, and how to get one
This is the most useful thing on the page and almost nobody knows it exists. An Garda Síochána prints a card you hand to a caller instead of talking to them. You get it by asking at your local Garda station. The Garda instruction is short:
“Ask your local Garda station about ‘bogus caller cards’. For people who feel particularly vulnerable these cards advise that the front door should not be open to cold callers. Apply the chain or door limiter and hand the caller the card. Do not enter into a conversation with the caller. As stated above genuine callers will leave their details on the card.”
What is actually printed on it
The card is reproduced in the Garda information sheet PS3. It carries two lines:
“Please leave your business card or contact details”
“I will contact you if I require your service”
That is the entire mechanism, and it is a good one. It ends the conversation without an argument, it does not require you to accuse anyone of anything, and it turns the transaction around: they leave their details with you, rather than taking yours. A genuine trader loses nothing. A bogus caller has nothing to write.
How to ask
Ring or call into your local Garda station and ask about bogus caller cards. There is no form and no charge published for them. The Gardaí publish a station directory if you do not have your station’s number. Ask for the Crime Prevention Officer or the Community Policing unit if the station asks who you want.
For anything the station cannot answer, the two bogus-caller pages on garda.ie and the PS3 information sheet all give the same contact for the Garda National Crime Prevention Unit: (01) 6663362 or [email protected]. We confirmed that pair on all three garda.ie documents on 19 September 2026. Your own station is still the faster route for the card itself, which is what the Garda advice says to do.
A “no cold callers” sticker is a different thing: a sign you buy or print yourself, with no Garda involvement. There is nothing wrong with one, but the card is what An Garda Síochána publishes, and the card is free from your station.
Checking a trader who turned up unannounced
If you are going to consider the work at all, this is the Garda sequence. It is deliberately slow, and slowness is the defence: every step in it takes longer than a bogus caller is willing to wait.
Say you never employ cold callers
“Tell the caller that you never employ trades people ‘cold calling’ to your door.” It is a complete answer on its own, and it does not require you to be rude or to explain yourself.
Ask for documentation you can take away and check
“Ask for a sales brochure or other documentation that you can subsequently investigate and verify as credible. This should have a contact telephone number, known address and a V.A.T. registered number.”
Treat a mobile number on its own as a warning
“Be particularly careful where sales documentation only displays mobile contact numbers or incomplete addresses. Telephone directory enquiries can assist in establishing the credibility and bona fides of the company or individual concerned.”
Ask for an itemised written quotation and for references
If you are satisfied they are credible and you still want the work done, the Gardaí say to ask for “an itemised written quotation for the services being offered and the names of persons and locations where they have previously worked successfully.”
Check it yourself, not with them
“Never solely rely on the accuracy of the information being proffered. Verify the information yourself.” A phone number printed on their own brochure is not a check on their own brochure.
Get comparable prices from firms you found
“Always seek comparable estimates for any services offered from other established reputable companies.” This is also how you find out whether the price at your door was ever real.
Never leave anyone unsupervised in your home
“Never leave strangers, even bona fide workers, unsupervised in your home.” The Gardaí extend this to genuine tradespeople, and so do we.
If the work is an alarm or CCTV, there is a licence to check
The Garda information sheet makes this point on the same page as the doorstep advice: “Alarm and CCTV installers require a licence from the Private Security Authority to carry out work on your home.” That is a legal requirement, not a quality badge, and it is checkable. Our guide to PSA licensing in Ireland explains what the licence covers and how to check one.
Why cash is the tell
Of everything on this page, this is the single rule that most often decides how much a household loses. The Gardaí put it without qualification:
“Never engage a person who insists on cash payment for services offered. Even when employing a reputable company always use a method of payment that is traceable.”
Note what is being said. It is not that cash is suspicious — it is that insisting on it is, and that the answer is to use a traceable method regardless of who you are dealing with. A trader who will not be paid in a way that leaves a record has told you what they are.
Nobody genuine drives you to the bank
The Gardaí list this as part of the routine: having demanded cash, bogus callers “may even go as far as offering to drive the victim to the bank to collect money.” If a caller at your door is arranging transport to your money, the work is not the point of the visit. Stop, close the door, and ring the Gardaí on 999 or 112.
A case where the traceable method mattered
In January 2019 the Gardaí publicised an incident in Bantry, Co. Cork. Callers arrived uninvited at the home of an older person living alone and, in the Garda account, made them “feel pressurised into paying an extortionate price for 12 chainsaws, 11 generators, 7 power washer and assorted tools which they had no use for and did not want.” The money was handed over as several cheques — and, in the Gardaí’s words, “thankfully most of which were cancelled before being cashed.” Cash could not have been stopped.
Callers claiming to be from a utility or an official body
A caller offering work has to sell you something. A caller claiming to be an official does not — they only have to be believed for long enough to get inside. The Gardaí describe the version built on that:
“They will target a particular area and offer a real or genuine service to the victim or may convince the resident they are from a utility services provider such as Gas, Water or Electricity with a need to check inside the property for faults. Having gained entry they may wander through the home to see if there are any items of value.”
What follows, in the Garda account, is an offer to buy something “well below the market value” and then pressure to sign a receipt for the sale: “They can use subtle and intimidating tactics into forcing the victim to ‘sell’ to them what they want.” Anything you sign at your own door under pressure, you signed under pressure — say so to the Gardaí, and do not let embarrassment about having signed it stop you reporting.
The check is the same one as for a trader, and it is the Gardaí’s own: “ask for ID – a genuine caller won’t mind”, and then “Never solely rely on the accuracy of the information being proffered. Verify the information yourself.” An ID card proves nothing on its own. Close the door, find the organisation’s number yourself — from a bill, or from the company’s own website, never from anything the caller handed you — and ring it. Nobody genuine needs you to decide on the doorstep.
If you have already paid
The Gardaí lead their advice for this with the thing that actually stops people ringing, and they lead with it on every page they publish about doorstep crime:
“Never be embarrassed or ashamed to contact the Gardaí. Do so immediately.”
It is worth saying why that sentence is in their advice at all. People who have been talked out of money at their own front door very often do not report it, and the Gardaí know it. Being persuaded by someone whose job is persuading people is not a failure of judgement.
Write it down before it fades
The Garda instruction: “Write down all you can remember about what happened to include descriptions of the persons, their clothing, any peculiarities or distinguishing features and any vehicles used by them. Keep safely any documents they may have given you.”
Elsewhere the Gardaí list what is most useful: “a description of the individual’s height, clothing, accent and details of any vehicle they are using, e.g. vehicle colour, make, model, registration number.”
Do it now rather than after the phone call — detail goes quickly. Any paperwork they left, however worthless it looks, is evidence: keep it rather than bin it in frustration.
One limit the Gardaí set explicitly. Gathering detail is useful; following anyone is not. Their instruction is to note as much as you can “but never put yourself at risk”. Do not follow a vehicle, do not go out to photograph one, and do not confront anyone. A partial registration reported safely beats a full one reported from a hospital.
If you paid by card, bank transfer or cheque, contact your bank as well as the Gardaí — a cheque in particular may still be stoppable, as it was in the Bantry case above. Our guide to reporting a crime sets out the routes An Garda Síochána publishes and what each one is for.
This is a real offence with real consequences, which is worth knowing if you are wondering whether it is worth anyone’s time. The Gardaí noted in 2019 that under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001, a person guilty of deception, on indictment, can face a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.
Reporting it, and telling your neighbours
You do not have to have been a victim to have something worth reporting, and the Gardaí ask for both halves of this — tell them, and tell the people around you:
“If you suspect that bogus caller(s) or trades person(s) are operating in your area and appear suspicious or are working in a vulnerable neighbour’s home, please contact the Gardaí and notify your neighbours.”
There is a concrete reason to ring rather than assume somebody else has. Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Tony Davis, speaking for the Gardaí in 2019: “If you have elderly or vulnerable neighbours and see or hear about bogus traders doing the rounds, let them and ourselves know so we can put out additional patrols.” A report is not only a record of something that happened — it is what puts a car on the road while they are still in the area.
Being the neighbour who knocks on the door
The Garda advice is direct about this: “For those people who may have elderly or vulnerable neighbours or friends, be a good neighbour and advise them of these possible scams.” If you are reading this because you are worried about a parent or a neighbour, the two things worth passing on are the back-door habit and the card from the Garda station. Both work without anyone having to spot a liar.
The Gardaí also offer to come to you. Sergeant Davis again: “Our Community Policing units are always on hand to pay regular visits to anyone who might feel susceptible to any type of crime.” Ask your station about the Community Policing unit, and about whether your area has a Text Alert, Neighbourhood Watch or Community Alert group — distraction burglaries are exactly what a Text Alert message is for.
One caution before you act on any of this: the Gardaí note that their advice “is not intended to be exhaustive or absolute”. If something at your door feels wrong and none of the above quite covers it, that is still a reason to close it and ring.
Next
Sources
Every quotation on this page is from one of the five An Garda Síochána documents below, all read on 19 September 2026. Quotations keep the source documents’ own spelling and punctuation.
- What is a bogus caller? (garda.ie)
An Garda Síochána’s definition, and the statement that the offences involved are dealt with under existing criminal legislation. Source also of the bogus caller card paragraph, the Crime Prevention Unit contact details, and the “never be embarrassed or ashamed” advice for victims.
- I’ve heard reports that bogus callers are in the neighbourhood (garda.ie)
The seven checks on a trader who calls to your door, quoted in full on this page, and the instruction never to engage anyone who insists on cash. The same burglary and theft page is also the source of the advice that side gates and doors be robust, locked with good quality padlocks or deadlocks, and impossible to lift off their hinges.
- Crime Prevention Message – Bogus Callers / Traders, Crimecall, 27 January 2025 (garda.ie)
Sergeant John Fitzpatrick’s Crimecall briefing, and the most detailed thing the Gardaí publish on this. Source of the distinction between legitimate sales people and bogus callers, the offences list quoted on this page, the four methods, the list of pretexts, the 9am-to-4pm weekday pattern, and the doorstep security check.
- Crime prevention advice regarding rogue traders and bogus callers, January 2019 (garda.ie)
The Bantry, Co. Cork case and Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Tony Davis’s advice, including applying the chain before opening the door and telling the Gardaí so extra patrols can be put out. Source of the sentencing note for deception under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001.
- Personal Safety: Bogus Traders/Callers, information sheet PS3 (PDF, garda.ie)
The printed sheet the Crimecall page directs readers to, issued by the Garda National Crime Prevention Unit. Source of the wording printed on the bogus caller card, the note that alarm and CCTV installers need a Private Security Authority licence, and the second confirmation of the NCPU contact details. Dated November 2015; where it differs from the live pages, we have used the live pages.
Nothing on this page is sold to you
There are no affiliate links here and no products recommended — including where the Garda checklist mentions a video doorbell, which we quote and do not link. The bogus caller card is free from your Garda station, we have no arrangement with An Garda Síochána, and we earn nothing whether you ask for one or not.