While we have all been navigating staying safe during Covid-19, most of us have also been spending a lot more time at home. Home should be the place we feel most secure. Ideally, you have a Knight Security system. But there are other safety issues to be aware of, including door-to-door scammers.
Some of these criminals pose as people we would normally be inclined to trust – utility workers, delivery people, census takers, and even home security salespeople. They are looking to take advantage of your defenses being down by presenting themselves as someone you might ordinarily trust as a way to enter your home and potentially steal from you.
So, what do you do if someone like this approaches you in your home? First and foremost: don’t open the door to anyone you don’t know or aren’t expecting.
A real utility worker won’t show up without an appointment, especially if they need access to your home. Anybody claiming they need to get in for a reason you have not been notified of in advance, is not a utility worker.
Fake census takers may try to get you to give them your social security number, or other personal, financial information. Real census workers don’t ask for, or collect, any of this.
An actual delivery person also won’t ask for any personal information, other than requesting your signature. And, during Covid, most delivery people are simply asking you to verbally verify your identity; they certainly don’t need to get into your house. Anybody who refuses to leave a package without obtaining other information from you, or getting into your house, is a fraud.
Someone posing as a home security representative may try to frighten you into letting them into your house by telling you that there have been robberies, or other crimes, in your neighborhood. They may also tell you they have a special offer that you will lose if you don’t accept it immediately. A real home security representative won’t do any of those things.
Any true employee in one of the aforementioned jobs will have identification. Ask for it. And, don’t just glance at it; ask them to hold it up so you can see it. Take note of the name and ID number. Then tell them that they must wait while you call their office to confirm that they are who they say they are. Ask them to give you a phone number – and then look it up to see if that’s the number you come up with. Then call it.
If anyone objects to your questions or actions and tries to convince you that you don’t need to verify who they are, is more than likely a scammer.
Bottom line – you can’t be too careful. And anybody with legitimate intentions will have no objections to your efforts to keep you and your family safe.
Contact our team of experts today to secure your home or business.
