New form of SPAM or Casing your house?

[lordjackel]

Hey Everyone...last night around 6:30pm my door bell rings. I answer it and there is some guy standing there. He has a clipboard and asks for me, by first and last name. Once I confirm, he says he is with my mortgage company and has a letter for me. He hands me a non-descript business envelope with my name had written at one end of the envelop. I take the letter, thank him and close the door...completely thrown off on why my mortgage company would have someone personally deliver a letter to me. I open the letter only to find a 6" x 6" Xerox copied piece of paper saying (in both English and Spanish):

"From your mortgage company"
"PFC Mortgage" - who is NOT my mortgage company
"1-800-something" - the phone number was hand written in while the rest of the note was a copy"
"Sorry you missed our call"
"Please call today to discuss your mortgage and be prepared to supply your account number immediately"
My name and address (though zip code was wrong) was typed at bottom

Clearly it was designed to get people to call them with their personal information. I went outside right after and took a picture of the guys car (with all the snow his license plate was obscured). While I am used to getting tons of spam in the mail to have someone physically come to the house is a new level of fraud in my mind. I proceeded to call the police to quickly came out and took down the details.

Beyond the SPAM/Fraud side it really was a wake up call about my preparedness. My gun was upstairs (kids running around), my garage was open and my door alarms were off. I live in what I would consider a safe neighborhood that has never had issues outside some minor teenage park damage...but clearly living here makes you complacent.

All that changed last night for me. You just don't know what people are up to and my neighborhood being so quiet clearly is inviting for scammers and theives.

If you read this take the SPAM side as a warning to be on the lookout...take my waking up as a reminder though we think we are safe someone is probably watching just waiting for us to become complacent.

 

[pdg45acp]

Damn. That's a disturbing incident. I'd certainly call the cops about it just in case they are looking for houses with nobody home.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

That's new. My guess would be: with all the people dropping their land lines, do-not-call lists, caller ID's, etc., this is just a new evolution of the telemarketer. It can't be very efficient.

 

[Snapdragon]

I think they were casing/feeling out who the homeowners were. We have similar stuff here, and they always seem to come on the hottest/coldest/wettest day of the year so that there's a better chance of you letting them inside.

Any more, I don't answer the door unless I look out and see a friend, a neighbor, or someone in a uniform that I recognize, like postal, utility, or LEO. Now that I have a gun, I may grab it and take it with me and the open the door a crack. Won't know until it comes up.

 

[jblomenberg16]

You were definitely cased, with an ID theft as a back up plan. They are looking for people that aren't home, and if they do find someone home, they hope to find the gullible ones that might fall for the "mortgage company" scam.

Sounds like you handled it ok, and will be better prepared next time. Now that we're out in the country, we get a lot fewer calls like this. When we lived in town, we'd get the random door to door sales people stopping through every 2-3 months, "selling" anything from super duper magic cleaner (I have an old thread on that), to children's books, to carpet cleaning. The children's books ended up being legit and I figured that since the guy was willing to spend over an hour with me in the front yard, explaining the books while I had a few beers, I'd buy them from him. None were welcomed into our home, and most had the saucer eyes when they saw a handgun in the holster on my hip.

 

[Cldedhnds]

I have a No Soliciting sticker on the outer door. I just point down and wave my hands saying no thank you. There will probably never be a reason for me to really need something from someone at the door. If they have a purpose that requires my opening the door it should quickly be evident.

 

[cobber]

Did he hit any of your neighbors? Or were you singled out?

I occasionally get canvassers, but they seem to be sweeping the neighborhood. Used to get kids obviously from out-of-town trying to sell stuff for their schools. Probably just unloading hot stuff someone hijacked from a semi somewhere...

 

[yeahbaby]

Our front door has a peep hole plus our large front bay window is right next to the door. I can look out and have a good view if someone is at the front door. Our one son who is still at home (19) knows how to handle my handgun if need be. With no young ones around I pretty much keep the gun accessible at all times when I am home. Someone comes to the door I look out the window. If I do not recognize them, just wave my hand like no thanks. Crime has picked up in our area. I don't even want to give them a chance to rush in if I open the door. Fortunately we do not have a lot of door solicitors.

 

[nm0369]

Whatever the guy was up to...it wasn't legitimate. We live in a suburban neighborhood and frequently get door to door solicitors. My wife got fed up with people ringing the doorbell on Sat/Sun mornings. We printed something similar to the image below, and taped it to the window right next to the front door. It's funny to see the solicitors get half way up the driveway and just turn around.

Or this might be more appropriate....

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

I would have gotten as much information from the guy as possible and called non emergency to let the police know. You did what I would have OP, nothing wrong with that.

 

[lordjackel]

Did he hit any of your neighbors? Or were you singled out?

I occasionally get canvassers, but they seem to be sweeping the neighborhood. Used to get kids obviously from out-of-town trying to sell stuff for their schools. Probably just unloading hot stuff someone hijacked from a semi somewhere...

Not sure it was snowing pretty good...I know he didn't stop on my street but it did drive deeper into the neighborhood. We do get the canassers selling everything in the world but this is the first single person, asking by name and having a piece of paper with my name on it...creepy

 

[lordjackel]

Whatever the guy was up to...it wasn't legitimate. We live in a suburban neighborhood and frequently get door to door solicitors. My wife got fed up with people ringing the doorbell on Sat/Sun mornings. We printed something similar to the image below, and taped it to the window right next to the front door. It's funny to see the solicitors get half way up the driveway and just turn around.

Or this might be more appropriate....

Love these! So getting one today!

 

[edporch]

OP, this is an example of why whenever anybody I don't know knocks on our door, I don't answer, but wait to see what they're gonna do.

Then, if they begin to leave and I feel like it, I then go out and talk to them once I'm convinced they aren't up to no good.

IF they are up to no good and break in, they'll be in for a BIG surprise!

 

[calum]

Plus 1 to all commenters who said you should call the cops. You'll be helping to save other victims in the future.

 

[littletommy]

Our town requires a permit for door to door soliciting, so if I happen to speak with whoever is bothering me, I ask for that first, usually throws em off. I'll politely tell them I'm not interested, and if they get pushy, I'll get really rude, really fast. I'm always carrying, even in the house, and I have 2 large dogs who don't take kindly to strangers.

I would call the cops on this clown, up to no good for sure.

 

[Suprtek]

Nothing at all wrong with using a sign if that's what you choose to do. I just don't feel it should be necessary. My personal rule is to never buy anything or conduct any business with anyone that comes to my door unless I asked them to come. There are obviously some exceptions such as kids I know from the neighborhood doing fund raising for good purposes. A sign could prevent those from coming. Most of the time, if I don't recognize them I just don't answer the door. I used to make an effort to avoid letting them know we were even home. I gave that up because I no longer care. Anybody trying to make a living going door to door should be able to accept being ignored. There seem to be some that can't though. I've had a few continue knocking or ringing the bell for an extended period of time. I eventually went to the door and said something like "I know you are here and you know I am ignoring you, why are you still here?". I've had some simply turn and leave but usually they insist on spouting their "script". That's when I just shut the door. It may seem rude but no more so than them interrupting my time at home for something I have no interest in. In today's world, if we want something the information we need is literally only a few clicks away. There is no need for door to door soliciting unless they are attempting something less than honest.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

I would have gotten as much information from the guy as possible and called non emergency to let the police know. You did what I would have OP, nothing wrong with that.

The other thing I forgot to add to this is that nobody should be soliciting in our neighborhood anyways as there is a pretty big sign at both entrances to the neighborhood that say "NO SOLICITING."

 

[Magneto]

I would have been on the phone with the cops ASAP. Really fishy to say the least. If they had said they were from my mortgage company I would have told them I don't have one. That would have thrown him off and basically let him know our conversation was over.

 

[WebSnyper]

Not sure it was snowing pretty good...I know he didn't stop on my street but it did drive deeper into the neighborhood. We do get the canassers selling everything in the world but this is the first single person, asking by name and having a piece of paper with my name on it...creepy

It is pretty easy to get this info. Many counties make all the info public on their property tax sites, including mortgage and other property transitions, etc. I get very similar to what the OP got but in the mail from time to time, especially after a refi, etc. Had not seen one from a door to door person, but I'm guessing similar concept.

That said, I typically don't answer the door for anyone I don't know, especially anyone that looks like a salesman. On the off chance that I do or wife does, I tell them not interested and shut the door before there is further discussion.

I also try to never leave the doors unlocked/garage door open, etc except for when one of the kids happens to do it (and then we have a discussion on why we don't do that).

 

[DRob]

"this is the first single person, asking by name and having a piece of paper with my name on it...creepy"

Most people are in that very large database called the phone book!