1. Never wear your ear phones at full volume when out and about. Make sure you can hear approaching vehicles or people.
2.  Always face towards anyone approaching. Make sure you can see their face and visually read any intentions.  If you get a bad feeling keep your distance.
3. Visually scan their body language and be suspicious if they look to be concealing a weapon.
4. Be suspicious of anyone asking random questions if you are outdoors alone or at night time, "do you have a lighter", "what time is it?  Keep moving.
5. Always keep a safe distance from anyone looking suspicious.  Cross the road if you would feel more confortable.
6. Pay attention to you intuition.  If something feels off, it probably is.

Very good advice from NZ Police came through this week. In our suburb there seem to be more and more doorknockers. Usually in the day time during working hours. I'm sure most are legitimate businesses or charities but you can't always be sure of their intentions.
Police remind everyone if a stranger comes to your door offering a service, you should always ask to see their photo identification. Don’t open the door to strangers and don’t be afraid to say no. Always keep your door locked, even if you are just in your garden.
There have been reports of a man targeting elderly in the day time by offering to fix smoke alarms and then stealing items from his victims after gaining access to the property.  The full article can be found here:

​http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-remind-residents-be-wary-door-knocker-claiming-fix-smoke-alarms?nondesktop