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Never allow someone onto your property without asking questions first

Opportunistic criminals are always looking for easy targets. Being aware of basic personal safety measures can go a long way towards protecting you from impersonators and imposters.

“More of us are spending longer periods of time at home now than before. It is very important that we don’t allow anyone in the front door or onto the property unless they have a bona fide reason to be there and their credentials have been properly verified,” says Charnel Hattingh, head of marketing and communications at Fidelity ADT.

Most suburbs have seen their own version of imposters who attempt to gain access to residential properties under false pretences. This often involves some kind of service provider, such as home delivery drivers, TV or phone technicians, municipal workers that are reading water meters, census workers working on the latest Statistics SA population count, or even fake police or armed response officers.

“Unless you have checked that the person at your front door is really who they say they are, you should never let them in the door. Also make sure that anyone else in your residence knows this rule,” says Hattingh.

“Our technical teams always work on an appointment basis, which means they will never show up at your door unannounced. All our technicians and armed response officers carry clearly visible ID cards. Contact the Fidelity ADT call centre on 086 12 12 400 (Johannesburg) or 086 12 12 500 (Pretoria) if you want to verify any of our team members’ identities.”

Hattingh also recommends keeping the contact details for the closest police station and the neighbourhood watch on standby, so that you can call them if there is any worry about someone trying to get access to your property.

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