Casing the Joint

[Calypso]

My best friend warned me the other day about some home break-ins that have been going on in her neighbourhood.

First someone fairly non-threatening, a teenager, comes to the door and tries to sell you a magazine subscription. If you say no, as most people do, he/she attempts to elicit more discussion. "But you have a computer, right, so you could learn a lot from Magazine X." Or, "I bet you travel, so this is a great buy. You probably have a trip planned right now, don't you?"

You refuse to buy, or maybe you break down and do buy, giving the teenager your credit card in the process. A few days later, you come home from work and your apartment is trashed. The teen, you see, was taking his/her time with you to see inside as much as possible and figure out if you had anything worth stealing.

This may seem a little paranoid, but if somebody I don't know shows up at my door, I won't open it...no matter what.

[tater03]

I have heard of people that do this exact thing. It is such a shame that you have to be so afraid to open your door when someone is there.

[vicki2]

Fortunately, where I live you don't get door to door sort of people because it's too rural. They'd really stick out and people would be wary.
I'm far more worried about online stuff these days.