Safeguard your Home and Foil Intruders' Deceptive Tactics
As I’ve said for a while now, the most popular way a criminal enters your home is through the front door. As simple-minded humans, we tend to do what we’ve always done even when committing a crime. So let's talk about securing your home with foolproof ways to thwart home invasion attempts.
Foolproof Ways to Thwart Home Invasion Attempts: Keep Your Doors Locked
Of course, we should keep our doors locked. It’s 2023 and honestly, there hasn’t been a time in America when it was okay for anyone to open your door unannounced. This is some Mayberry myth that makes old-timers nostalgic for the good old days. The old days were dangerous too, you just didn’t have Ring cameras all over the place.
And yes, I’ve seen more than a few videos of criminals approaching a door and checking the knob first to see if the door is unlocked. In one video, the door was unlocked and the robber just stood there stunned, like he was embarrassed for the soon-to-be victims. Maybe he was also upset that he didn’t get to kick through the door.
So locking your door is important, we know this. But if the door is locked, how do they get us to open up? That’s what we are talking about today.
Enticing You To Open The Door
Enticing someone to open the door is a common trick of robbers. The best way to get you to open your door is to think something mundane or trivial is happening. Take for instance the delivery driver who needs a signature. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had to sign for a package in a decade and that was at work, not at home.
There is a Ring Camera video that ripped through the internet of a guy in a regular car, wearing sloppy clothes and an orange vest trying and deliver an empty box to a home. The homeowner opens the door, the fake delivery guy produces a gun and there is a scuffle. The fake delivery driver is pushed down the stairs when the door is locked in his face. He looks around and then goes back to his car. The whole thing took less than a minute.
Creating Chaos at the Door
Another way criminals get you to open up is to create chaos and see how you respond. A common way a criminal group will get into your home is by sending a woman who is frantic to your door.
She’ll bang on the door and scream that she needs help. Her story will be that she’s been in a wreck, being chased, or lost her dog. Who wouldn’t help a woman in need like that? And that’s how they get you.
They prey on you being a nice person because the actions of a nice person can be predicted. By the time you’ve opened the door and asked how you can help, one or more unseen assailants rush in, control you, and do what they want inside your home.
Delivery Deception
As food deliveries have become more popular since the pandemic, many criminals walk freely up to doors with takeout bags. To the neighbors, this looks normal. They’ll knock on the door and ring the bell.
If you are home, you may open it to tell them they have the wrong horse, because you are again, a nice person. What you won’t see is the other two people in the car jump out and rush you.
If no one answers, that person will alert the rest of the crew and they hit the empty house with force. This recently happened in Ventura County, California, and the whole thing was caught on camera, so while bad for the homeowners, it’s a good lesson for the rest of us.
Sesame Street Safety Songs
Think back to the old Sesame Street songs, “These Are the People in Your Neighborhood” and “One of These Things is Not Like the Other.” Bad guys are going to try to look like they belong in the neighborhood. You have to be vigilant and question what you’re seeing to make sure you see what’s really going on.
Spotting incongruent signals is key to keeping your home and neighborhood safe.
One such signal might be the supposed Uber driver having a taped sign in his window and not the fancy one he’s supposed to have. You may see a person in a blue vest with a box, but there won’t be an Amazon truck nearby and they won’t have a badge or scanner on them. There might be someone looking at the gas meter, but they have clean boots, a crisp yellow vest, and a clean hard hat. Maybe it’s his first day on the job, or maybe he’s trying to get close to your home.
Just know to look beyond what you see to make sure what’s really going on. And if you see something that is really odd, you can always text a neighbor or make a post on the neighborhood Facebook group about what you’ve seen. But be careful what you say because you don’t want to come off as the crazy neighbor.
You Don’t Have to Open the Door
Going back to us being nice, predictable people. I want to share this with you and I want you to teach your kids this. You don’t have to answer your door. You don’t have to.
The social norm is that when someone knocks, you open the door to talk to them. I’m here to tell you in 2023 that you don’t have to. Keep that door closed and the people on the other side do not have the right to enter your home just because they showed up. Get that out of your mind. Your locked front door is a great way to keep your home safe. If you appear rude, who cares.
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