Several Bethesda residents  reported solicitors who were selling scam magazine subscriptions door-to-door last month.

Several men, claiming to be students at the University of Virginia, attempted to sell magazines to raise money for a summer trip.  At each house, the men slightly altered the details of their cause.

But this isn’t the first time these scams have occurred. A woman allegedly sold scam magazines May 10 to households along Tulip Hill Terrace, close to Goldsboro Road. The solicitor claimed to be the daughter of neighborhood residents and claimed to be raising money to travel to an internship.

“She used different names for her ‘parents’ and couldn’t clearly identify the home where they lived,” one resident posted on the Tulip Hill community bulletin board.  “One neighbor saw her using her cell phone at the front door in a way that looked like she was taking photographs of things on their front hall table.”

The next day, one of the houses on the street was robbed, and residents suspect the two incidents were related. Ann Lister, the victim of the burglary, said she didn’t trust the woman’s story.

“Her story about needing money to fund travel to her internship did not ring true to me,” Lister said.  “If her parents really lived in our neighborhood, they would’ve provided the funding necessary for her trip.”

Police corporal Dan Friz said that residents should notify the police when they see suspicious solicitors in the neighborhood.

“They can’t solicit anything like that without a county permit,” Friz said.  “Nine times out of 10, they don’t have them.”

A person at the door may not have the proper credentials if they try the door handle, peek into the windows or incessantly knock, Friz warns.