Stranger danger isn’t just a concept we need to teach our children to try and keep them as safe as possible. It applies to adults too. It seems awful that we have to be wary of everyone that approaches us but it’s a sad truth that there are plenty of con artists out there, so we must be on the alert for a scam.
Bogus service providers
This isn’t just paranoia. Over the years I’ve received a number of emails from the committee that runs our security village, with warnings about bogus service providers. On one occasion it was a group posing as plumbers. They arrived at the gate in a truck with ladders and equipment that look genuine, all in overalls and with big, friendly smiles.
They were waved through and drove directly to the home they’d targeted, where the house keeper was also taken in, allowing them into the home without question. They left with TV sets, laptop computers, cell phones and jewellery after tying the house keeper up and locking her in a bedroom.
It made us all a bit jumpy, so much so that when a genuine team of meter readers were doing the rounds, a resident reported them to the police. He was suspicious because a meter reader had been at his home the previous week. It turns out that the second lot were doing an audit of the first lot, so the panic was for nothing.
Make that phone call to verify that they’re legitimate
But this resident did the right thing: he checked. And this is the lesson we all need to put into practise. We mustn’t worry about offending anyone. If in doubt about the people at your gate, phone your service provider to verify their credentials.
For your peace of mind, Trellidor vehicles are branded; our sales consultants and installers can be clearly identified by their corporate clothing; and your local franchise should call to let you know when we’re coming to install your Trellidor security barriers.
Some franchises use sub-contractors to install barriers, but they should still have some form of Trellidor identity such as Trellidor corporate clothing and you should have been contacted by the franchise prior to their arrival.
But we encourage you to phone the franchise if you are even the slightest bit concerned. We’d rather field a phone call from you than hear about a robbery afterwards.
Teach your children and employees to check too
It’s vital to teach children and employees to check with you before letting anyone they don’t know onto your property. Make sure they know your cell phone number and that they should never let anyone in without phoning you first, unless you’ve let them know in advance to expect a service provider.
Contributor: Lindy Barry
