The public is being warned to be wary of a well-dressed door-to-door salesman, purporting to be raising money for the Scouts.
According to one man, who almost fell foul of the scam, the con artist was very convincing and looked every inch the professional.
His would-be victim - who asked to remain anonymous when he called the News - said he answered his door in Steveston around 2 p.m. Sunday.
At the door was a man in his late 20s, around six feet six inches tall, wearing a black suit and carrying a suitcase.
He opened up the suitcase to display an array of Starbucks products, which he claimed the sale of would raise cash for Scouts Canada.
"I think the Scouts is a great organization and I went back into the house to get $20 to buy something," the homeowner said.
"The guy had an iPad and he looked very professional. But then he said that he couldn't accept cash for personal safety reasons and only took debit or credit cards.
"I was really, really close to going ahead with it, but something wasn't quite right."
Not happy about handing over his credit card to a stranger, the homeowner said regretfully that he couldn't buy anything and the "salesman" went on his way.
"If this is a scam, I think people should be made aware of this guy, because he's very convincing," the man told the News.
John Pettiti, Scout Canada's spokesman, confirmed that there's no way the salesman represents the Scouts or has permission to raise money for them.
Pettiti urged people to call the police straight away if they're approached by the man.
Alamin Pirani, Scout Canada's BC and Yukon executive director, said they had received a couple of calls about the incident.
"This is fraud and people should tell the police straight away. The only thing we sell door-to-door is our Scouts Popcorn."
Richmond RCMP had not received any complaints about the conman, but Cpl. Sherrdean Turley said the public should not hesitate to contact them should they be asked to buy products from the would-be fundraiser.
