http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42693758Police have warned residents that a newly released prisoner is "likely to start targeting elderly people in door-to-door scams" even before she has committed any new crimes.
In an unusual move, officers in Bury, Greater Manchester issued the alert on social media about the unnamed woman.
The post, which has since been removed, said she "may fall back into her old ways" after her recent stretch in jail.
Police said they were looking into how the novel warning had been issued.
The message, posted on Facebook on 12 January, urged people in the region not to let the woman into their homes.
It claimed that the woman was known to knock on the doors of "elderly or vulnerable people" before asking them to lend her money to visit her sick father in hospital.
She is then said to steal anything of value within reach.