Refuse to Be a Victim: Beware of Solicitors!

It’s late afternoon.  You are finally at home after a long day, and are relaxing on the couch. Someone comes to your front door.  You answer the door and this normal looking young man is there, and says that he represents a window company.  They are looking for homes in your neighborhood to install new energy saving windows, and then showcase your home as part of their advertising.  In return for allowing your home to be a showcase, you will get a significant cost savings on the project.  Nice looking guy.  Official looking clip-board, ID badge hanging from his neck, clean cut.  And this is such a good deal!  How can you pass this up?

This may be a legitimate sales call.  Or this may be a scam.

 

You are a little hesitant because perhaps you don’t want to start this type of major project right now, or maybe money is a little tight.  The sales pitch is now being laid on thicker and thicker to convince you that you really need to consider this. 

So the solicitor says:  “Can you give me a landline number?  My company will get in touch with you and explain the deal further.”

Did you catch the scam?  Before I tell you what it is, let me give you a hint and tell you that these scams are kind of like “sleight of hand” gimmicks in that one thing is used to distract you from the real purpose of the “mission” that this person is on.  And yes – I used the word “mission” on purpose to give you a hint.  Any thoughts yet?

The Scam:

OK – here it is.  This is possibly a reconnaissance mission.  Reconnaissance to look for targets for home invasion and/or burglary.  The thick sales pitch was a distraction from the other subtle things being asked, such as for you to give them a landline phone number.  And if you’re thinking about your house windows and energy savings, you aren’t thinking about looking for what other pieces of information this person is collecting during this visit.

First, by going door to door, our “salesman” gets to write down street addresses and house descriptions.  That official looking clipboard is for taking notes, after all.  A salesman writing down notes looks perfectly normal. 

They get to see if anyone is home at that time, they get to see who answers the door (man, woman, child), they can now tell which houses have dogs (as alerted by the doorbell), and they can also see which houses have alarm signs in their front yards (and/or stickers on the door).  If a person answers the door, besides seeing if an adult, man or woman, they can see what “type” of person it is: Stern, timid, mad, happy, geeky, forceful, easy to convince, skeptic, gullible, etc. 

All of these characteristics can help the thieves decide if that person will present a threat to them even if they are home during a potential home invasion.  They now also know what other threats to their success exist at that house.

Secondly, they asked specifically for a landline phone number.  Why do you suppose that is?  Well, if they have a street address, and can then associate a landline (hard wired) phone number to that address, they then have some pretty concrete exploitable information about your physical residence. 

Then the next part of the reconnaissance begins.  Several calls can be made to that landline to see if anyone is home at various times of day, find out who is home at those times (did an adult or children answer the phone?), and start putting together a pattern of the most opportune times for an invasion or burglary.  If someone answers, it is easy to fabricate a story for why they are calling.  It is also extremely easy to spoof the phone number for the caller ID, or simply make it appears as "Unknown." 

Associating a landline with a home with an alarm system also gives the thieves an opportunity to figure out which methods they need to use to defeat or circumvent the alarm.

Here's What You Can Do:

For starters, you are not obligated to answer your door.  But to help you decide whether or not to answer, consider installing a wide angle peep hole in your door so that you can see a wider area of your front entry area.

Only allow the adults in your house to answer the door.  Tell children that under no circumstances are they to open the door to anyone.

If you are going to answer the door, take a moment to compose yourself, put on your game face, and prepare yourself to question everything about this person standing at your doorstep.  You don’t need to verbalize every question, but don’t get so caught up in the sales pitch that you forget to keep asking yourself why they are here, what red flags should be going up, and what general suspicions you have about them.

Put a “No Soliciting” sign on your front door.  Where I live, it is against the law to make unannounced house sales calls like this if there is a “No Soliciting” sign posted.  Maybe this will keep them away and help avoid the whole situation entirely.  If it is a legitimate sales person, they know about the laws, and will probably honor it.  Criminals don’t know or care about laws.  If they won’t honor that “no Soliciting” sign, that should be a red flag.

Do NOT give them your home (landline) phone number under ANY circumstances.  I personally would be hesitant to even give them a cell phone number.  Ask for the company's phone number and tell them that YOU will initiate any call for service. 

Ask for more official identification (such as a driver’s license) to compare to that neat looking little ID badge they have hanging from their neck.  Write down who they are, what company they claim to be from, and even ask for a business card.  If they have no business cards, that should also be a red flag for you.

Answer their questions with conviction.  Don’t waffle or look like you are unsure of yourself.  But keep your answers short and direct.  Don’t give out information about you or your household.

If you are not interested in the sales pitch, state as such directly.  Again – tell them YOU will initiate contact with their company if services are desired, and after you have verified the legitimacy of their company.

After you close the door, write down everything you can remember about them.  Time, date, height, weight, race, hair color, clothing, what they were carrying, name from identification.  Were they on foot, or did they drive up in a vehicle?  If a vehicle, write down a description and license plate number, if able.  Did they seem nervous?  What was their general demeanor?

If you have an alarm system, explore whether or not cellular technology is available for the monitoring portion of the alarm, or consider switching to an alarm company that does offer cellular technology.  I have looked into the “SimpliSafe” alarm system, for example, and will be switching to that from ADT. (I will write a separate review once installed).

It may be a legitimate sales call, or they may be sizing you up for burglary or home invasion.  Absent your crystal ball or superpowers for predicting the future, you have no way of telling.  If it is for criminal purposes, you have to remember that they are sizing you up and doing risk analysis on you and your home.  They don’t want to get hurt “on the job” and they don’t want to go to jail.  It is your job to size them up also, try to see the red flags, and do your own risk analysis and threat management.

Ultimately, you need to do whatever is possible to make your home an undesirable target for them.  If you can get them to move on and eliminate you as a target quickly, then that is a very good thing.

Refuse to be a victim!

Refuse to be a Victim: Defense-in-Depth for the Home

Staying safe in your own home should be a pretty straight forward process.  Go inside, lock the doors, and be safe.  You’re not overly worried about an invasion while you’re at home, right?  And if you leave lights on while you’re not at home, then that should deter most criminals, right?  Don’t bet on it!  Even in good neighborhoods these day, homes are being invaded and violent crimes committed in areas where we never thought we had to worry about such things.  The criminals are taking their show on the road and selecting neighborhoods where they know they can walk away with your valuables.

Download the home security self-assessment survey from Jeffco Sherriff's Dept.

Criminals have found more ways to break into homes, and more ways to bypass what we think are the normal protective measures, such as locked doors and windows.  They are also no longer limiting their invasions to times when they think the home is empty.  Invading a home while the occupants are there (see link at the end of this article) has afforded criminals several opportunities for committing even more serious crimes such as kidnapping, rape and robbery.  If they can abduct a person who can take them to an ATM to obtain cash, their reward from the crime becomes even greater.  Likewise, if someone is home, then they can possibly force them to open safes, unlock secured storage, or gain access to other valuables.  So as criminals get cleverer about their strategies, we also need to become craftier with our defenses.  And this doesn’t mean that we have to turn our homes into hardened fortresses where everyday life is uncomfortable.  We just need to find ways to be more aware and have multiple methods of protection.

This is where a term known as “defense-in-depth” comes in.  If you create multiple layers of protection around you and your family to defend against potential invaders, then the chances of a criminal successfully getting in and doing you harm is greatly reduced.  The idea here is that even if one or more layers of your defense are defeated, you will still be protected because there are other layers of protection in place to stop the attacker from getting in.  Multiple layers of protection will also allow you to be more flexible in your protections while allowing you to still live your life.  Remember – the idea isn’t to barricade yourself inside an impenetrable fortress and have not a life.  The goal is to have a safe place of residence and still be able to live comfortably.

Attitude & Awareness:  A secure attitude is the very first and most important building block of your home security strategy that you should develop.  Just being aware of what is around you, and what condition your other security measures are in is really all we’re talking about here.  Keeping the mind set of always locking doors (even during the day) and always being aware of your surroundings will go a long way towards ensuring your safety.  Obviously you can’t be in a heightened state of awareness all the time.  You like to sleep occasionally, right?  But that’s where having multiple layers of protection will come into play, as we will discuss further in this article.  And the importance of this attitude is to realize that you are not doing these things because you are afraid, you are doing them to protect yourself and your family.

Exterior Areas:  Keep bushes and shrubs trimmed – don’t give criminals a place to hide.  Find some attractive "thorny" bushes to put in front of your windows.  Don’t leave tools and ladders outside and accessible where someone can use them to break into your home.  Keep outside areas well lighted.  Consider installing motion detectors for turning on outside lights when someone enters the area leading up to your doors.  Make sure the garage door is closed.  If you have large dog doors, make sure they are secured when not in use.  When you come home, make sure you are aware of what's going on as you enter the house.  If anything seems out of place upon your arrival home, leave the area immediately, go to a neighbor's house, and call 911.

Large windows on the sides of entry doors allow potential intruders to see in and see what's there!

Exterior Facing Door Areas:  Install wide-angle peep-holes to allow you to see more area of the outside entry way.  Covering windows that allow people to look inside is an important step in foiling would-be home invaders also, especially if you have an alarm system with a control panel that is visible in the front or rear entry areas.  For example, some people have large windows on either side of the entry door that allows someone to view into the house.  Many alarm installers will put the control panel for the alarm system adjacent to an entry door.  If a potential intruder can peer in and see the alarm status lights, then they know whether or not your alarm system is even armed.  Consider putting curtains or opaque window film over these windows.  There are many attractive options that will still allow light to come in, but will make it very difficult for people to see details about the inside of your entry areas.

Alarm Systems:  Consider installing an electronic alarm system with battery backup, connected to a centrally monitored alarm company via telephone.  These types of alarm systems are very affordable, and can also detect smoke/fire and carbon monoxide, making them extremely effective in several different aspects of home security.  Panic buttons are a popular feature of these alarm systems.  A panic button can be hard mounted on a wall, but can also be a wireless device, and portable, resembling a key fob.  Not only can you use the wireless devices to alert the alarm company in a panic situation, but they can also be used to arm and disarm your alarm system from anywhere in the house.   These types of alarm systems can be very sophisticated, and allow you all sorts of options such as glass break detectors, motion detectors, and sensors to detect if windows are opened.  The options are many and varied for these systems.

Dogs and Signs:  Even if you don’t have an alarm system, a sign warning potential criminals can still be effective.  They don’t know that you don’t really have an alarm, but such a sign makes them think that you do, and therefore they perceive that they have a higher risk by breaking into your home.  This may be enough to make them bypass your house and look for an easier target (deterrence is another layer of defense).   Likewise, even if you don’t have a dog, there are companies such as DutchGuard that make motion detecting devices that will emit a very realistic dog bark.  Of course, actually having a big dog in the house will serve as a powerful deterrent.   And if a potential intruder peers into the house and sees a large set of food and water bowls laying by the entry, that may be enough to give them reason to look elsewhere for an easier target.  Even if you don’t have the big dog, put a set of food and water bowls meant for a large dog near interior areas visible to the outside.

Safe Room:  Have more than one safe room, if possible.  The safe room in many homes is a master bedroom because that is where many people keep their gun safes, and have other necessities such as a bathroom, water, and other comfort items in case they will be there for several hours.  If your safe room is something such as a master bedroom, consider changing out the small screws for the door hinges and latch plate with the longer three-inch screws to make the door harder to break down.  Install a solid core door if possible.  Install key-lockable entry locks on the safe room entry door.  Make sure your safe room has a phone (both landline and cell phone, if possible).  If you have firearms for home defense, make sure they are in the safe room area.  Have one of those remote alarm control device with a panic button, as mentioned above.  Make sure all of your family members know where the safe room is.  Have a code word that you use to tell everyone to get to the safe room quickly in an emergency.

If an intruder does break in, and you have all of your family members safely inside the safe room, STAY THERE!  Dial 911, activate your panic button, and keep emergency services on the line until help arrives.  Keeping them on the line is especially beneficial if you have a firearm as part of your home defense strategy.  They are able to hear you as you warn the invaders that you have a firearm and that you will shoot them if they enter your safe room.  This warning is recorded by the 911 operator, and may be helpful in the follow-up investigation, especially if you are forced to use your firearm for self defense.

Security Accessories:  Make sure and keep additional items that will help you in various areas throughout the house.  Flashlights with extra batteries can be kept in multiple places throughout the house.  Your cell phone should be with you.  Even keeping those old, un-used cell phones handy and charged up can be used.  Even if a cell phone isn’t activated with an account, you can still make 911 emergency calls from them.  A remote alarm system controller with a panic button is highly recommended if you have an alarm system installed.  Pepper sprays and other non-lethal self defense items can also be beneficial.  Also keep a first aid and 72-hour kits in your safe room.

Warning:  Any of the practice drills mentioned below should be done with an unloaded firearm.  Remove ALL live ammunition from the area before performing any practice drills. Use only unloaded firearms when practicing.  Check and double-chek your firearm to make sure it is unloaded before attempting any drills or practice in the home.

Drills and Practice:  Hopefully you already have fire drills in your home. But do you ever have a home invasion drill, possibly even in the middle of the night?  Try it some time, and ask yourself the following questions to identify potential areas where you need to develop a strategy: 

• Does everyone know where to go? 
• How long does it take them to get there? 
• Would anyone have to get to the safe room by first going through a part of the house that might be occupied by the potential intruder? 
• If you have a child in another part of the house, away from the safe room, how do you venture through the house to get to that child to ensure their safety.
• Do you have a defensive firearm?  Do you know how to gain access to it, even in the dark?

If you have a defensive firearm in a handgun safe, for example, drill yourself on how much time it takes to get into the safe, access your firearm and other essential tools such as a flashlight.  Do this both in the light, and in the dark.

Wrapping It All Up: Even if someone does break in and takes your property, property can be replaced.  That’s what insurance policies are for.  The purpose of having a home defense strategy is to keep you and your family members safe in case of a home invasion.  The purpose of a home defense firearm should always be that it is the last line of defense in an attack, and then used ONLY to stop the attack.  There are many layers that you can employ for your home defense strategy.

The home defense methods mentioned in this article are only some of the home defense techniques that can be used.  The NRA’s nationally recognized “Refuse To Be a Victim” seminar taught by Northern Colorado Firearms Safety Training will give you a well rounded self defense strategy.  We include information on keeping your home safe, staying safe while out and about, safety while traveling, and even safety while using your computer online.  See our scheduling for an upcoming class, or ask us about private instruction.

For More Information:  For a more complete self-assessment of your own home security, download this document.  It is published by the Jefferson County, Colorado Sheriff's office, and can be used to help you assess your own home security and find out which areas need attention.

Follow Up:  1/8/11 - Just as I was finishing writing this, I saw the following article in which men with shotguns burst into an occupied home at 9:30pm demanding money:

Article:  Home Invasion Suspects Arrested