An elderly woman received a call while she was home alone at night by a man asking for her address.

When she asked who was calling, the man replied that if she looked through her front window she would find out.

"It was very scary because I'm 89 and I live on my own," she said.

The woman has lived in her Griffith home for 40 years and has never had any safety concerns before the incident.

She now has locks all around her house and made sure she informed the police about the drama, but was still quite nervous when someone called her home phone late at night last week.

Constable Marc Roberts, of Griffith Police, addressed a large group of concerned residents at the Griffith Seniors Centre recently about thieves targeting the elderly.

Constable Roberts said these perpetrators had been known to make phone calls to see if anyone was home, or to act like they were in distress in a bid to gain entry.

On some occasions they have knocked on doors at night claiming to be selling raffle tickets, before pushing an elderly person aside and stealing items from the home.

Constable Roberts urged residents to lock their doors and report anything suspicious to police.

"We've found a great reluctance from elderly people to call Triple-0," he said.

He said police believed a woman aged between 25 and 30 with a thin build may be able to help police with their inquiries.