Absolute Essentials Of Protecting Yourself From Bogus Callers
November 23rd, 2008

There are several different types of robbers. Some may try to rob your house in a traditional way through a break in attempt. Others may try to trick you to get inside your house. The second type of robbers is called bogus callers. Bogus callers will try to present themselves as agents of different companies or organizations. The list of examples of the companies that bogus callers may try to use includes but is not limited to utility companies (gas, electrical or water), phone companies, high speed internet or cable TV companies, banks, repair services and many others. Bogus callers may even say they are the representatives of a government agency or that they are your new neighbors. They are good in what they are doing and they will try to make sure that they look as believable as possible to succeed in their criminal objective. Your main task is to identify a possible danger and check to make sure that a stranger that just knocked at your door is indeed who he says he is. There are several ways how you can do that and this article will talk about the 5 absolute essential steps that you need to follow to protect yourself, your family and your property from bogus callers

The first essential step that you need to take is to make sure that any time a stranger knocks at your door and says that he or she is an agent of the utility company (phone company, internet company, etc.), you check his or her identification. Any respectful company that works with clients at their houses will issue company identification documents (IDs) to its agents. Check the document that that person provides you and make sure it is a real one. Take a close look and take as much time as you need to examine the ID.

The second essential step applies in the situation when you are in doubt that the provided ID is a real one. In this case call the company that this person claims to be an agent of and check that this company does indeed employs a person under this name. Also check if this employee was sent to your house on some type of assignment to do some type of work. If everything is correct and you are still in doubt, ask the company representative to speak to the person standing in front of you and to confirm his or her identity. Companies have different ways to do that, usually by asking their employee for a secret code.

The third essential step is to make sure that if you let a stranger inside your house to perform some type of work, you never leave this person alone in the room. Bogus callers will try to distract you or even get you out of the house and use this time to steal something from your house. Make sure that you oversee what this person is doing and never leave the room until this person completely finishes his or her work. If you are asked to leave the room for some reason, refuse to do so, especially if you have something valuable in this room.

The forth essential step is to try to have another person with you during the time when you have some stranger inside your house that is performing some type of work in one of your rooms. You can call your neighbor and invite him or her to spend some time in your house until the work that is being performed is done and a stranger leaves the house. If you know in advance that someone will be coming to do some type of work around your house, invite a friend or a neighbor in advance.

The last essential step deals with the situation if you are afraid of the stranger who just knocked at your door. If you are afraid and you are unsure if it is even safe to let this person inside, ask the person for the reason he wants to see you and ask to come back at another time when you are not alone. Following all the above steps will allow you to protect yourself and your house from bogus callers

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