by VERONICA GORDON
Residents in Chaparral Park and Leisurewoods have received delivery notices with San Antonio and Austin phone numbers that appear to be a scam intended to target houses for robbery, according to one local homeowner. And some shady salespeople are making calls on people in parking lots, according to Hays County Sheriff officials.
The Chaparral Park resident found this information online about the delivery notice scam and how it takes place:
If the notices aren’t removed by the homeowner, or if they begin to accumulate, the house is marked for robbery (absentee homeowner, vulnerable house).
If a homeowner responds to the notice by calling, GeoTrek (et al.) will attempt to sell a home alarm system, or home air-filtration device. Those who agree to purchase receive installation and are robbed within a few month’s time.
For homeowners who decline to purchase, these crafty cons seek out detailed information about the existing alarm system – or confirm the absence one in the home and the home is robbed.
The web site suggests to protect yourself from this scam through awareness. Share this information with your neighbors and if you receive a notice on your door, call your local non-emergency number and report it.
In the meantime, Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Jordan is also alerting local residents to be apprised of a scam that is taking place in local shopping centers.
In an email, Jordan explained that he was approached inside the Wal-Mart store in San Marcos by a door-to-door magazine salesman trying to do his magazine sales scam. The company the receipt said he worked for is “Back A Winner,” based out of Colorado.
“During my conversation with the “salesman,” he disclosed that law enforcement in the New Braunfels area have already been called on the group,” Jordan said. “He claimed to a have a permit to solicit in San Marcos. He also told me that he and several others would be in the Comal County/Hays County/Travis County areas for at least the next five to six weeks. The ‘salesman’ I encountered appeared to have been drinking. Wal-Mart staff was informed and he was ‘politely’ asked to leave.”
Jordan warns that these salesmen and saleswomen will likely be soliciting in neighborhoods.
“We encourage you to be cautious when dealing with any door-to-door salesmen. If you do not feel comfortable or they refuse to leave after being asked to do so or after you have warned them they are trespassing and are not welcome, you are encouraged to contact law enforcement,” Jordan said in the email.
Some tips to avoid such door-to-door scams:
1. The best way to not get caught by this scam: don’t answer the door. If you aren’t expecting anyone, ask who it is through the closed door. If it’s a door-to-door sales person, tell them to leave.
2. Putting a “No Solicitors” or “No Trespassing” sign is one way to help in deterring them.
3. If you answer the door, don’t open it wide and don’t invite them in. Even if they say, “Can I use your phone to contact my sales manager,” “Can I get a glass of water,” “Can I use your bathroom,” or “It’s really hot out here can we go inside and talk where it’s cool?” Once inside, this stranger can steal from you, hurt you, or worse.
4. If you do open the door and they won’t leave or they try to stick their foot in the door, scream. Yell at them, yell “Fire!”, or anything that will get attention. Call law enforcement to file a report.
5. If you live in an apartment complex with a security door, remember, don’t buzz in someone you don’t know use the intercom find out who it is. Door to door sales people are known for buzzing everyone in the building to see if anyone will let them in without checking to see who it is. Report these incidents to apartment management staff.
6. If you see a neighbor being harassed by a door-to-door sales person, call the cops. If you feel comfortable enough, walk up to your neighbor and ask what is going on.
7. If you happen to talk to a door-to-door sales person and don’t feel comfortable, call the police. Also, notify your neighbors and don’t be afraid to watch where the door to door sales person goes. If you notice they are going to houses that don’t appear to have anyone home, call the police – they could be trying to break in. In addition, be more alert; it is common for a neighborhood to experience a rash of home burglaries, car break-ins, or garage break-ins days after a team of traveling sales people have visited the neighborhood, especially if they didn’t get the sales they were expecting.
8. Don’t buy anything! The whole point of door-to-door sales is to pressure someone into buying something without being able to make an informed decision. Even if the sales person tells you their deal is only good through them, don’t buy anything.
9. If you do call the police, try to give a good description, like identifying marks, tattoos, scars, hair color, height, weight, type of clothes the door-to-door scammer was wearing, if they had an accent, if they were male or female, if there was more than one person.
