Criminals are constantly looking for new and innovative ways of gaining access to people’s homes and properties. A popular way of achieving this is by pretending to be someone else, which is why home owners should always be careful about who they allow in the door.
“Suburbs across South Africa have seen their own version of these imposters, which often seem to involve people pretending to be some kind of service provider. It has included everything from pretending to be someone chopping down a neighbour’s overgrown trees, to a municipal water meter reader, a technician installing fibre or a satellite dish, to even fake police officers or armed response security officers,” says Charnel Hattingh, Head of Marketing and Communications at Fidelity ADT.
It also appears that imposters are using the fact that more people are working from home at the moment, to step up their efforts as they know someone will be around to open the door.
The key, says Hattingh, is to always verify the identity of anyone trying to gain access to your home. If there is any doubt, don’t open the door for them.
“When it comes to our own teams – it is important for residents to remember that Fidelity ADT technicians always work on an appointment basis. It means that no one will show up at your door unannounced, asking to inspect your home security system. Our technicians and our armed response officers also always carry very visible identification.
“Contact our call centre team on 086 12 12 300 if you want to verify any of our team members’ identity and make sure your children also know to never open the door for anyone unless they have a real verified reason to be there,” says Hattingh.
She also recommends keeping the contact details for the closest police station and the neighbourhood watch on standby, so that you can call them if there is any worry about someone trying to get access to your property.
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