THE focus is on doorstep scams in the final week of a month-long campaign to help West Dorset residents avoid becoming victims of fraud.

The awareness campaign is being run by Bridport CAB to coincide with Scams Awareness Month.

Project officer Shaun Powell said people should beware of opening their door to a potential burglar, or someone who wants to get inside the property to enable others to break in.

He said: “Bogus salespeople will provide false identity or contact information, making it impossible for you to identify or contact them. If you’ve paid them in advance, you won’t get your money back.

“Even if your bank or insurance policy covers any loss, you’ll still have to contend with a damaged credit rating, continued correspondence over a prolonged period to repair the damage, and the emotional distress and anxiety identity theft can cause.”

Door-to-door frauds can take many forms, including pressure selling, unfair contracts, fake customer surveys and bogus charity collections.