A New Challenge. No 5.

[Chris B]

[macaba]

A. Get her to sign a document stating that she is the rightful owner of said property.

B. Ask her for a letter proving her ownership (Bill) once entry is gained. If she can't prove it, or refuses, then you call the police. Either way, she couldn't steal anything with you there.

[toomush2drink]

ask her if she has a crime number for the stolen bag and confirm it with the police and ask them if they could confirm her address after you have explained the situation. You could also ask what is on the bottom shelf of the kitchen cupboard etc. Better still just take her photo with a digital and keep it on record in case its a dodgy call.

[Wallaby]

If she is calling you by phone, where is she calling from ? Her mobile perhaps, but was that not stolen too ? so i guess she is at the neighbours or could meet her there ...

Could also ask for the phone number of the house and call it when you are there, hear it ring.

Also could ask for a piece of info concerning the house, Toomush goes for kitchen cupboard, buy hey, if shes good looking, have some fun

(Almost had that chance on a job with pinky with a BA stewardess but her parents turned up and spoiled it .. sorry, got diverted there ...)

In reality, despite the perfect answers, we will all use judgement and good faith ...

[vector40]

How about this? If the home has a closed garage, ask her what kind of car she drives. When you get in, take a peek.

NOBODY's going to forget what their car is, but it'd be pretty hard to figure out unless you lived there.

[Mad Mick]

You don't need any proof, since she's your mother/sister/daughter.

[master in training]

family photos are another good one, poeple always have photos, even if they are not on display, ask her to tell you where you can see a photo of her, if she refuses, you know theres something fishy going on.

[Chucklz]

Call the cops, and see if they will swing around and meet you.

[NKT]

So she walked five miles to get home without a key or money, after calling you from a phone somewhere?

I'd ask some questions over the phone, like "Where are you now?", "No, I'll meet you there, it will save you a taxi and messing about.", "How are you going to pay your bill?", "Oh, so everything got stolen, but your Amex?", "It's in another woman's name?", "Hello? Hello?"



If I was fairly convinced, I would go and ask for some proof of knowledge of something that you couldn't get from the phone book, or by trashing, or basic surveillance. After all, if this woman is trying it on, she knows that no-one is going to be in at 2am! How hard would it have been to note the car registration?

I did like the idea of getting a photo or whatever. Camera phone would let you send it somewhere else, too, just in case. The anti-stab bulletproof vest used for warrants would also help.

Best proof is probably to ask them to fix you a cup of tea and a biscuit while you tot up the bill, and when they can't work out where the cups are, you call the police!

[Chris B]

[quicklocks]

[master in training]

ok, so all the ways have been covered to find out if a person is genuine or not, but if you open the door and then find out they actually dont own the place and are breaking in, possible by by using the "tea and biscuit" example, what would you then say to them? "i dont think you own this house, im phoning the police, please dont run away or smack me over the head with a frying pan while we wait for them to get here"?! this may just me being stupid and kind of shy as i naturally am, but i wouldnt really know what to say in this situation

[vector40]

If you've gotten pretty sure that they're the bad mojo, and they're already in... I'd just leave and call the police from another location. You're right that it could potentially be dangerous.

[raimundo]

she would know the phone number and the owners name because this is not random burglary, if the burglar were interested in random, they would just try doors until they find an open one. this is a set up, the burglar knows the house. I once had a job where I was asked by one of a lesbian couple to open an apartment, and since I knew both of them, I did it for her, then later checked with the other one, to see what was happening, it turned out that they had broken up. but what happened, was the one who asked me to open the apartment had some excuse, I forget what it was now, but when she went in she was interested in some other things, (photographs she was taking) and I stayed to lock up after, so I kept an eye on her and didn't let her stray far from the stated purpose, when we left, I relocked the place and within a day, I contacted the other woman, whom I knew better and told her what had happened and told her there was something hinky about what went down, she was not upset at me, I had done work for her previously on the locks, so she knew me. But it shows how someone you are led to trust, can be up to purposes that are ulterior to the stated purposes, and it might not be a burglary, it could be an interpersonal thing and the person asking would know intimatly what the interior of the place is like. I remember now, she said it was to feed the dog. which was only one of the things she was actually interested in when the door was opened.

[NKT]

That's the trickiest situation. Just be calm and polite, and be careful that there aren't two large blokes waiting in the bushes. I recommend shutting the door behind you both when you go in! (Only helpful with a self-locker!)

Keep a hammer with your chisel in your toolbox that you have with you!

It is very hard to detect a lot of confidence tricksters - they make a living out of being polite, witty and charming, and not running at the first sign of trouble. Also, anyone with inside info is going to have a far better chance of faking you out.