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[matrixman92]

So my mom is not really in the know with these kinds of things. She just moved into a new home. She has been saying for days that she needs to get a security system installed for a deductible. So what do you know, an "Authorized ADT seller" rolls up to her house and she immediately lets him inside to take a look around! She told me that he looked around the entire house looking for entrances with no alarms and told her which ones she would need installed. I should note that throughout this whole ordeal, she did not ask for any proof that he was who he said he was. So he counts up the windows and doors that need alarms and totals up a bill. Turns out the guy says he will do it all for free, besides an installation fee.

So my mom starts to fill out a form, it asks for her Social security number and her credit card number along with the CVV number on the back. At this point, thank God, she starts to become suspicious. She tells the guy that she needs to think about it. She has already written down her SSN and credit card number on the paper. The guy starts to have a fit and says he needs to keep the paper with the info for records. My mom manages to get the paper back from him in the end and he leaves, but holy shit that is scary. We called the local police and told them what happened and they said they hadn't heard of anything like that in the area. Is there anything else that can be done? So this guy now knows what items are inside the house, and exactly what entrances do not have an alarm on them. We also called the actual ADT company to try to find info on the guy, but they couldn't find his name, they could only find the company that he said he worked for. Which could easily be just him using an actual companies name for his scheme. She is going to try to get an actual alarm set up soon from ADT themselves.

 

[CyclopsRock]

It sounds like you've done all the things you need to. What do you want us to say?

 

[Manmademan]

this sounds more like she let someone selling ADT into her house. That company has salespeople everywhere. You yourself say ADT found a record of the company the guy was working for, probably a third party contractor hired to sell their service for them.

Calm down.

There are people who ACTUALLY pose as utility workers etc to gain entrance to your house. They don't take measurements and give estimates to bill you, they simply knock you out and rob you as soon as they're in the house. Especially if you're old and alone.

That guy may not have been the best, but the overwhelming likelihood is that he's just a bad salesman.

 

[How About No]

 

[matrixman92]

It sounds like you've done all the things you need to. What do you want us to say?

reassurance thanks

this sounds more like she let someone selling ADT into her house. That company has salespeople everywhere. You yourself say ADT found a record of the guy the company was working for, probably a third party contractor hired to sell their service for them.

Calm down.

There are people who ACTUALLY pose as utility workers etc to gain entrance to your house. They don't take measurements and give estimates to bill you, they simply knock you out and rob you as soon as they're in the house. Especially if you're old and alone.

That guy may not have been the best, but the overwhelming likelihood is that he's just a bad salesman.

I forgot to mention that ADT said a seller should have a dealer identification number, which this guy had listed nowhere. We got his card, which ADT also looked up the info on. They couldnt link the phone numbers to anything official. And I have also never seen something like this where you have to give so much info on paper and trust some random person to carry it around in public.

 

[Kule]

It's easy to jump to conclusions but wouldn't it make sense that companies selling security would keep track of recently sold properties?

 

[komplanen]

Buy a security package from some company and have it installed ASAP. If she was going to do it anyway, there shouldn't be a problem getting it done a little more hastily.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Sounds like a con man or a very eager worker. Hard to say honestly.

 

[Manmademan]

reassurance thanks



I forgot to mention that ADT said a seller should have a dealer identification number, which this guy had listed nowhere.

unless your mother asked for it, he probably wouldn't have looked it up to give it to her.

We got his card, which ADT also looked up the info on. They couldnt link the phone numbers to anything official. And I have also never seen something like this where you have to give so much info on paper and trust some random person to carry it around in public.

third party resellers are everywhere. Some are better than others. And as another poster mentioned, when you buy a house any number of companies get an alert that you just moved in and will come by to sell you things. I got everything from new window people to security people to the local priest coming by within the first couple of weeks.

Again- fake salesmen don't take measurements to come back later, they just rob you. And they don't hand out business cards with their phone numbers on them FFS. Your local cops "haven't heard of anything like this" because it's just a salesman, not a robbery attempt. This doesn't sound like a scam, it just sounds like a bad salesman that got upset over investing time and losing a sale and likely a paycheck.

 

[Newt]

This sounds like a real salesmen, not a robber or a scammer.

 

[bosseye]

Doesn't sound fun OP, but I'd echo others and say it sounds too thorough to be a scam, more likely an over aggressive sales guy. Well done your mum for putting her foot down though, some people find themselves railroaded into stuff they're not actually sure they want in these situations.

 

[Machina]

Sounds like a con man or a very eager worker. Hard to say honestly.

If he was an eager worker, he wouldn't be giving away free security to anyone. Fake as fuck and typical scum preying on elderly.

 

[Blue Lou]

You shit, haha. That's pretty mean.

Poor matrixman92.

 

[Mimosa97]

Why would they need her SSN ?

 

[Manmademan]

If he was an eager worker, he wouldn't be giving away free security to anyone. Fake as fuck and typical scum preying on elderly.

security companies make their money on the monthly monitoring fees. pretty much all of them will give you an install and hardware for nothing.

Why would they need her SSN ?

credit check, most likely. see the above- you're generally signing a contract for monthly monitoring service for a set period with those people. a year, two years, etc.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I forgot to mention that ADT said a seller should have a dealer identification number, which this guy had listed nowhere. We got his card, which ADT also looked up the info on. They couldnt link the phone numbers to anything official. And I have also never seen something like this where you have to give so much info on paper and trust some random person to carry it around in public.

Some of the smaller marketing companies do. My ex was an authorized seller for AT&T, and went door to door selling everything from cable to home security. She had to write up what equates to an order form and gives a copy to the buyer. They call it in, and then return those papers to their manager for tracking. I've seen the forms and its pretty thorough.

As to the identification, you are right that they all should have it. However, people leave badges at home (I certainly do, but at least I have my information memorized if anyone ever was to press the issue.) The guy sounds incompetent / new. Doesn't sound like a thief.

Then again, if you're worried he might break into the house, maybe you should buy the service ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

edit: There are soo many deals out there, including waived installation and/or equipment costs in return for 2-5 year contracts with a prorated early termination fee. The fact that it's free shouldn't throw you off these days. As someone said above, they make their money on the monthly rate.

 

[cyress8]

I want to say it is a scam, but the exact same thing happened to me when I first bought my home. I think these guys are just checking up on homes that are being sold and trying to make a sale.

I did not let the guy into my home though. Already had my system put in and maintained by a family friend.

 

[JoeNut]

perfection

 

[Frodo]

Thread title reads like the description of a bad porn film.

 

[Dali]

Did she actually call to have someone come by or was it just her luck that someone showed up? If the latter I don't understand why she would give access to a stranger that just randomly showed up to her house. I guess it's fortunate she had the sense to not give the guy all her info though.

 

[Bigboss242]

Bad sales people don't ask for social security numbers.

 

[Zoe]

If he was an eager worker, he wouldn't be giving away free security to anyone. Fake as fuck and typical scum preying on elderly.

They do it all the time. Usually you have to display their sign as part of the contract.

 

[Nephilim]

if you were there, why didnt you step in?

 

[Keri]

Asking for her SSN is a red flag and makes it sound like he's less interested in actually breaking in to her house, than he was in stealing her identity or selling her information. So your mom is probably going to be fine, just lock all her doors and windows and get a real security system as soon as possible.

 

[JesseZao]

Bad sales people don't ask for social security numbers.

Good ones do?

 

[Bigboss242]

Good ones do?

No salesperson should ever ask for SSN.

 

[Kor of Memory]

He didn't give her a business card at any point of the conversation/pitch?

Did he give a name? It shouldn't be too hard to call up the local ADT branch and ask if john doe works there.

Hell, they'll be interested to know that someone is posing as an employee of their's as well.

No salesperson should ever ask for SSN.

Car salesman (or anyone that looks into a credit check) might ask for one. That's not unheard of.

 

[RoadHazard]

Didn't sound all too strange to me until the part about giving him CC numbers with CVV. That's basically all you need to go on a spending spree with the card. Is giving this out to salespersons normal in America? I would never EVER do that. Good that your mom didn't.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I have zero expertise with this, so one doesn't need to defer to me on this. But a quick search for whether or not a security company would ask for an SSN, I came upon this:

http://besthomesecuritydeal.com/why-do-alarm-companies-check-your-credit/

Why Do Alarm Companies Check Your Credit?

I am often asked why we need to check a new customer’s credit score. Customers often feel that since the monthly monitoring cost is such a small amount, their credit history should be of little significance.

If a customer is paying cash for all of the home security equipment being installed in their home or business, as well as the cost for the installation of that equipment, they should NOT have to have their credit score checked; however, in most cases the customer is paying little or nothing for the equipment and installation. The monitoring service is paying the Alarm Installation company for these costs, and typically the amount that they are paying is more than the customer is committed to pay over the term of the monitoring agreement. The monitoring company is gambling that the customer will in fact continue their service for well beyond the initial term of the agreement. The statistics kept on the retention and attrition of customers over the years show a direct relationship between an individual’s credit score and their likelihood to not only fulfill the terms of their agreement, but continue for years beyond the initial term of service.

So, even though a customer is not getting credit from the company, the credit score is very important in determining whether the investment made by the monitoring company will pay off. Typically the credit score is determined through what is called a “soft inquiry”, meaning that only one of the three credit bureaus is being checked, and only the score is determined without any details of credit history, delinquencies or current creditors. Because of the limited scope, a soft inquiry does not have the same negative impact on an individual’s FICO as a full inquire has.

Protecting the customer’s identity is of the outmost consideration. Confirming information from a credit file is a surefire way to do just that.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Need to not let strangers in the house like that holy shit.

 

[Keri]

Even if credit checks are typical for security systems, I'd never give this information (SSN and credit card) to a random seller who appeared at my door, since they may just be an individual taking advantage of the way these systems typically work. Always best to go directly to the company yourself and I think your mom was right to back out, OP.

 

[DopeyFish]

I have zero expertise with this, so one doesn't need to defer to me on this. But a quick search for whether or not a security company would ask for an SSN, I came upon this:

http://besthomesecuritydeal.com/why-do-alarm-companies-check-your-credit/

"Protecting the customer's identity is of the outmost consideration"

that gives me a lot of confidence

 

[Steve Youngblood]

"Protecting the customer's identity is of the outmost consideration"

that gives me a lot of confidence

Oh, I'm not advocating that system or giving out one's SSN to any similar security company. I'm just kind of attacking it from the perspective of trying to be optimistic and hoping that this isn't a scam. Maybe I'm thinking about it wrong, but it would strike me as a less scary proposition if it was just a subpar salesman and not some would-be identity thief that they were dealing with.

 

[RulkezX]

Google the numbers on his business card ?