Beware of Scam Artists at Your Doorstep

Recently a scam artist knocked on my front door in the early evening, just before dinner time.  He claimed he was our neighbor and that he’d locked his keys in his car.  He needed to borrow some money to get his car unlocked.  We’d never seen this man our lives. 

We realized he was trying to scam us when he told us his house number and pointed in the opposite direction of that actual house.  He also told us he lived two doors down.  My family knows the people who live two doors down on both sides of our house, and he wasn’t any of them!  In fact, we know everyone who lives on our street, but we’d never seen this man before.  Also, when a family member asked to see his car to see if maybe he’d be able to unlock it, the stranger made up excuses as to why his car wasn’t there and why we couldn’t see it.  And when we offered to call a family friend who works for a professional car unlocking service who would probably unlock the car for free, the man fed us even more excuses as to why money would be the only thing that could help him.  We told him we had no cash, but we would gladly help him get his car unlocked.  And with that, he left.

Members of my family were shocked that someone would show up at our house in broad daylight trying to scam us out of money.  They expected that kind of thing in parkinglots or outside of gas stations, but not in their own home!  Because this happened to me, I am sure that it has happened or will happen to many other people out there.  Being aware of this scam or similar scams can keep you safe if it happens to you.  

You can also keep yourself safe by getting to know all of your neighbors.  If you’re bad with names, try to remember faces.  Or try to learn specific details about them.  Do they have any kids?  Do they have pets?  Have they lived here their whole lives, or did they relocate?  What do they do for a living?  What sports teams do they follow?  If you know your neighbors, then you’ll know when someone is lying about being one of your neighbors.  Knowing specific details about their lives can also help if someone you don’t know claims to be a friend or relative of one of your neighbors.  

Always be suspicious of someone you don’t know asking you for money, no matter how small the amount may be.  Offer to help the person without giving them money.  If there’s a problem with their car, offer to take a look at it for them.  If they need gas, offer to help fill up their tank if they’ll take you to their car.  If they need money for food, offer them food instead.   Often people who really need help will ask for help instead of for money. 

The guy who came to my house rambled on and on, and at first it was difficult to figure out what he was asking us.  When I used to work in retail, the scam artists who would try to return items they didn’t buy would behave the same way.  If someone is talking a lot and offers up a lot of explanations and reasons before you ask any questions, be aware that this is suspicious behavior that is typical of scam artists.  

Being aware is the best way to keep yourself from being scammed.  It is when people are taken by surprise and don’t know what is going on that they usually get scammed.