People scouting for robberies. (?)

bellak · August 2008

I put the question mark because I like to not assume people are up to no good, but I've seen this one too many times in my other building, and in the long run, people's apartments got robbed.

Today, 2 women and one man knocked on doors of my building saying they were the "electric company." Long story short, they talked about a rate increase and wanted to see my bill. I asked if they were from ConEd and one woman said "no" and the other woman said "yes" at the same time. One woman kept clearly trying to look in my apartment and they were inquisitive about when someone is usually home as I told them they had to leave.

I called the 71st precinct and had these people in my sight for a good 15/20 minutes, but no police showed up. (as they said they would) I called back and told them the route these people were taking and what they were wearing. Let's say I handed this to the police on a platter and am disappointed. [my avitar is Supergirl after all

]

So, just protect yourself and don't answer the door for strangers. It's easier said than done sometimes and I got my little wake up call today.

sir_eccles · August 2008

Not a robbery in the typical sense of the word but they are out for a scam.

The usual line is that they want to check that you've been claiming your sales tax rebate on your electricity. There really is a thing where depending on if your supplier is in or out of state you don't get charged sales tax. What they are actually doing is switching your supplier to one which probably isn't any cheaper.

Check out this long list of stories on Consumerist about IDT energy:

http://consumerist.com/search/idt/

drkman · August 2008

Yea, that is that whole ESO thing. Sometimes you can get people knocking on your door claiming that they are from Con Ed and they can decrease your bill. If you talk with them, they will try and convince you to change your energy supplier. I guess they are paid by how many people they sign up. They came through my building about a year ago and got a little 'tude cause I was not interested. They are basically agressive door to door salespeople.

lucille · August 2008

I had the same experience both here in CH and in my old building in Bed-Stuy with salespeople pretending to be Con Ed people and sell me an alternative. However, they didn't roam the building or stand eagerly in my doorway, sizing up the stuff I had inside. They rang buzzers and waited for people to come out and talk to them. They also didn't ask specifics about my bill or the hours I was at home. Nirdgirl might be on to a new scam dressed up as an old sales tactic.

bellak · August 2008

The link that sir_eccles gave pretty much matched what these people were doing and I'm sure they were part of the conversion scam.

But in my last building in Park Slope, there would be times where similar people from the "gas company" were knocking on doors frequently for a week and, more times than not, an apartment was robbed by that Friday. All of us caught on and looked out for each other. There was an interesting evening when a tenant was chasing 2 woman with his digital camera snapping photos of them as they ran out of the building. Such drama! #-o

People scouting for robberies. (?)

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories