Intruder Alert!

[Photographiend]

Someone seriously came to my door last night trying to get me to let them into my house claiming to be from AT&T so they could remove some wiring.

Of course I am not going to let them in but then I call AT&T to confirm that they don't have anything scheduled and they don't... so, yes, I call the authorities.

And as if that wasn't bad enough they actually knew my name and not the one I have on my AT&T account but a longer Hyphenated version I also use. Seriously freaky.

The moral of the story, NEVER let a stranger into your home and security screens are priceless.

 

[Warhorse]

A firearm for self defense, is a big plus.

When seconds count, police can be minutes away at best.

 

[Overread16 4]

MOD NOTICE this thread gets one warning - no gun chat/debate!

 

[kathyt]

That is crazy. Did AT&T have more complaints similar to this?

 

[Warhorse]

MOD NOTICE this thread gets one warning - no gun chat/debate!

You can delete my post if you wish, I did not realize the subject was verboten.

 

[Photographiend]

No but the police said they get these calls all the time and that I did the right thing, only next time I should call them faster so they can try to catch the person... Now that I know this is so common place... I will have to try not to verbally accost the person and tip them off to the fact that I intend to call the authorities. My whole "It seems Highly unlikely that AT&T would send a representative out to my house at 6:15 at night to remove wiring from my house unannounced." Is probably why he wasn't around when they showed up. Since as they explained he was likely just the one casing the neighborhood.

 

[runnah]

MOD NOTICE this thread gets one warning - no gun chat/debate!

Jeez I hope I don't shoot myself in the foot in this thread.

 

[Trever1t]

Wow, freaky scary yes. What city you live?

 

[LeeStar]

Scary! Once a long time ago, some smooth talker appeared at my elderly parents house, tricking them into thinking he was someone they knew. While he kept them distracted in the kitchen (offering to do some work for them), an accomplice climbed the stairs to the second floor. They obviously didn't know I was there. I heard the person and thinking it was one of my parents, I called out to them. The person immediately fled the house. And this was a small town, very safe place. I was very thankful I was there at the time!

 

[Dagwood56]

I had something similar happen a few months ago. There was a young woman going door to door claiming to be from some power company that I had never heard of for my area. She said her firm had been hired by Met-Ed [my area power company] to see what discounts they might be able to offer PA residents because of new power regulations. I had heard of the issue she's talking about, however, it was a Saturday, first red flag. No large company is going to send someone out on foot to go door to door on a Saturday.

Then she asked to see a copy of my electric bill -second red flag. I said my husband handled finances and was not home and I didn't know where the bills were. Thinking back on it now, I should have said something else less polite and slammed the door in her face, but I wasn't raised to be that way that way. She persisted saying she would wait while I went to look for one of the bills. I said his desk was a mess and finding anything on it was impossible. Again she said she'd wait. Third red flag!

I finally told her I was busy and she'd have to stop back another time when my husband was home. Needless to say she never came back. My first thought was how stupid does she think people are? With identity theft running rampant, show her a copy of my power bill? Really? I was tempted to call the police but after she left my neighbors, who also didn't give her what she wanted, the woman looked rather nervous and took off. The sad part is, many senior citizens probably wouldn't think twice about showing a bill.

 

[480sparky40 39]

I love nabbing scammers like this. My next-door neighbor got involved in a fake bank check scam with an item she was selling on Craiglist.

The scam is the buyer says they'll send a bank check via the mail, she can deposit it, and then 'an associate' will come pick up the item after a few days. Well, of course, it will take a week for the bank to find out the check is fake. So she gets the check, emails the buyer and says the check has been deposited.

Three days later, she gets an email about picking the item up. Some guy comes to the house, and I pretend to help carry it to his car. What he doesn't know is I've texted the local deputy who was sitting up the street. We live on a cul-de-sac, so the scammer had no where to go after being blocked in by the cop car. My neighbor never did deposit the check..... she handed it to the cops for evidence.


It was fun as h-e-douple-toothpicks watching him get cuffed and stuffed.

 

[cmhbob]

Back in 1990, I was working a contractor gig for PG&E in Pittsburgh. My employer was testing the corrosion of gas service lines, so if your gas meter was inside the house, we needed to get inside. Spent 15 minutes with a homeowner explaining the process and answering a number of questions (ID, contact numbers, etc). She called the contact number and finally agreed to let us in. Turns out there was a male/female burglary team working the area. Cops hadn't told PG&E, and no one had told us. -_-

 

[Photographiend]

Trever1t - I don't actually live that far from your city. But I do tend to be reserved when disclosing my specifics online.

 

[NedM]

Scary!

 

[vintagesnaps]

There's been the 'can I see your utility bill' routine pulled in our area (and not remotely in your part of the country, it must be going on everyplace). In our case I asked the girl questions til she sidled off the porch then contacted our town offices (people have to get a permit uptown before they go door to door). They told residents here you don't even have to answer your door... always an option to call and find out if they're legit. What losers.