"Zachary Hill" knocked on my door late afternoon on a weekday and said that he was raising money for a college trip. He attempted to establish familiarity by saying that he was the son of a Marine Colonel who lived on the same street as us. He was overly charming and agreable. He claimed to be one of 7 children, and that he was in his last year of aeronotical engineering school at Univ of Maryland.
Zachary explained that he needed money to attend a 6-week program at Boeing in Washington State to repuild a P-51 [aircraft]. He claimed that he needed only 4 more donations, and had some large bills in his hand to give the impression that other neighbors have already given. He presented two options: donate either $122 or $244. He said that even if I cancelled my check, that he would get "points" toward the trip, so I could cancel later that evening after talking about it to my husband.
Upon writing the check, he asked to use our landline, "I'm out of cell phone minutes; Dad's going to pick me up at the end of the street." After he left, I had a feeling that a con-artist just walked out my door. I tried to access the website on the "receipt", and that website does not exist. I will call my bank to cancel the check. I wish I checked this website and asked for ID before being taken by a charming young "student".