I think the open approach by the fraudulent collectors could have had two purposes.
- simply to access some ready cash
- to reconnoitre the approaches to the premises check out security measures and ease of entry and exit also if it looked as if there might be anything worth stealing
invade the premises
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I don't think these door knockers would be the same people who would later make an illegal entry to the premises. That would be someone acting on the information received from them.
They might have knocked to ascertain if the premises were empty, but that wasn't the MO in Mrs Fenn's home invasion.
The collectors were describing a genuine charity which helps orphanages, and had done preparation by printing out photos and learning its history and offering receipts. But someone who helps run that charity said they don't do door-to-door collections. So there is a possibility the collectors might have been bogus keeping the donations for themselves.
However IMO the burglar(s) who opened this child's bedroom window and shutter, unintentionally triggering an accident IMO, were just petty burglar(s) nothing to do with any bogus charity collectors.