"Fidelity Reader Service, Inc." - BEWARE!

[PTK]

Had a couple young (late teens/early twenties) girls knock on my door around noon being VERY pushy about selling me a magazine subscription, to the point of demanding to come inside to "use a table to write down [my] name". I did some quick checking, and while some genuinely nice folks get drawn into working for them, mainly it's a ripoff scheme, along with being used as a front to case apartments. There have been rapes, robberies, and burglaries connected with these scams, and some cities have prohibited this company from operating.

They left when I shut the door in their face - but not before trying to hold the door open. They finally stopped pounding on my door when I politely told them that the sheriff station was less than a quarter mile away and I was in the process of dialing.

Once they left I told the dispatcher such, and no car needed to be dispatched.

What is wrong with youths today? Trying to force into my home wasn't the brightest idea - if they tried that on my neighbor, she would've probably started shooting...


Edited to add: I almost forgot, they wanted to know what I did for a living, how much money I made, what kind of car I drove, etc. Further research online shows that this is a very, very bad company indeed.

[MicroBalrog]

Those are likely these folks.

[PTK]

That would be the outfit. It seems that the company scams the sellers as the sellers scam the buyers. What a great little scheme. Guess I'll be making sure someone keeps an eye on my place the next few days. I really don't need to be burgled... 

My main concern is what the heck two young girls are doing trying to get into apartments? Do they not understand how dangerous that is?

[Regolith]

Some guy (around my age - early 20's) came around my apartment a couple of months ago trying to sell magazines.  Not sure if he was with that group or not.  I didn't let him come even close to the threshold, and he couldn't see much inside due to the way my apartment is laid out.  He wasn't pushy, though it took a while to get him to buzz off (fairly persistent).

Never even crossed my mind that these guys may be staking out my apartment.   

[PTK]

Hence why I'm up at 3AM. 

I don't hide the fact I own guns/art/etc., but I generally do not go around advertising the fact. I'm just hoping they didn't figure which vehicle was mine... stickers that were on it (I removed them a few hours ago right before sunset) pointed to my being a gunsmith.

[LadySmith]

My main concern is what the heck two young girls are doing trying to get into apartments? Do they not understand how dangerous that is?

They were a team: one to distract you, the other to do what they came to do.
If you got the drop on one, the other would take care of business.
If they ran into a "situation", it would change nothing. If one were grabbed or hurt, the other would still function.
A girl team can be more successful because people tend to let their guards down more around them.
This team just needs to work on its aggression. And they probably will.

[Regolith]

The apartments I live in aren't exactly the safest place in town, though it's been cleaned up some by management. 

Used to be drug dealers and meth cooks living here, but most of that type was thrown out.  However, the apartment of a friend of mine who lives in the same complex was broken into a couple of years back (nothing was stolen, but the vagrants trashed the place and ruined some furniture), and because of that I've been fairly paranoid about security, so I don't advertise at ALL. 

No stickers, guns and gun related stuff are tucked out of sight, etc.  About the only thing you can see from the door when it is open is my crappy grill, which consists of a $30 walmart gas grill sitting on a base to a $20 walmart charcoal grill that was modified by a friend and I to serve as a grill table.  I don't open my curtains, either, because the front window is huge and allows the people in the apartment across the street to look right in. 

So if that guy were trying to scope my place out, he came up with nothing helpful, at least to him.

[PTK]

LadySmith

Gee, that makes me feel ever so much better. It does explain why neither had a pen or clipboard, even though they knew they had things to fill out... "Can I use your table? Gee, can I borrow a pen?" and now they're inside and you're not paying attention. Clever, really. Glad I didn't fall for it, there's PLENTY that was in plain sight earlier... Just got back from the range!

[LadySmith]

PTK, I'm very glad you didn't fall for it either.
I hope they'll realize you were too alert, wary and well-armed to be considered prey.
There are always easier pickings out there.

[280plus]

I've always done my best to look alike I'm poor and therefore not a worthy mark. Seems to work. 

[AmbulanceDriver]

I had the same thing happen a few days ago.  Guy was an obviously cleaned-up (former?  I don't know) gang-banger.  Obvious gang tattoos on his hand, etc.  Firmly but politely declined any of his offers.  The thing that *really* bugged me (and almost got him staring down the barrel of a 1911) was that he had all his little "fliers" in his right rear pocket.  So he's already got my warning lights going by his appearance, and then he reaches behind him with his right hand.  Because of how I was opening the door (right half of my body behind a wall, and the door only open about 6 inches with my left foot blocking it) he couldn't see that when his hand went behind his back, I now had my gun in hand.  NOT a fun situation, but he eventually got the hint that I wasn't gonna buy anything and left.

[Manedwolf]

It was only a few months ago that somewhere in the southwest, I forgot what state, that a couple of people actually selling magazines used that as a means of home invasion, killing a couple so there would be no witnesses.

If I don't know someone, unless there's a large FedEx or UPS truck behind them, the door stays closed.

Besides, there's a large, tasteful brass and wood sign at the only entrance driveway that says that soliciting is not permitted, and that trespassers will be prosecuted. The police will come and deal with that, too. Town tries to keep its rep as really safe.

That company couldn't come here anyway. Fidelity Investments has a headquarters here, they'd kick their ass for "intentionally misleading" or somesuch.

[BlueStarLizzard]

makes me glad to live in the country. anyone traveling door to door seems to get pretty quickly that if you say leave, they better get out. i image that the more, er, redneck of my naighbors have brandished annoying sales people. the only pushy ones are the mormen boys, but dad found that if he brandishes his bible they usually splite pretty quick.

[K Frame]

Generally I don't even answer my door if I don't know who the person is who is standing there.

If I do answer the door to someone I don't know, there's a .32 in my back pocket.

[The Annoyed Man]

I have two signs on the entrance to my property "Trespassers will be butchered" and "Many illegal activities in progress, enter at your own risk." If those don't work, then the dogs do their job.

[Ben]

Huh, same thing happened to me a few months ago. Scantily clad 18-ish or so girl (from Iowa or some place like that) wanting to sell me magazines and wanting to come in to use my table to do it. She was asking me the same kind of questions. When I said I wasn't interested she said she'd get in trouble from her "supervisor" for not filling her quota, and that she'd been out all day trying, and "look at my sunburn" as she dropped her top part way down a boob to show me. Didn't expose anything completely, but kind of obvious what she was trying to do to get me to let her "use my table".

When she saw I was adamant about not buying, she asked if I could walk her to the front gate because she didn't remember where it was, and again, her "supervisor" would be mad at her if she wasn't out front when he got there (I live in a condo complex and she was referring to the front gate). It's IMPOSSIBLE to be lost in my condo complex. Think of a rectangular room with no obstructions and a door at one end. No way you could not see it.

At that point I figured something funny was REALLY going on (at first I thought she had a novel way of selling sex), and I said okay only because I wanted to see if she had any friends loitering in the parking area. It was around 8PM, so I'd answered the door with a pistol in my back pocket. I told her to hang on a second, walked 10 feet back to where my house key was, and in that time she'd already opened the screen door and was starting to come in. I gave her a "what the hell?" look, and she turned and went outside. She saw me lock the deadbolt, then we walked down my stairs, walked about 50 feet, then she said, "Oh nevermind, I know how to get out". Lost all the friendliness and just turned and left.

I didn't see anyone suspicious outside, and neither had a neighbor I asked afterwards (and briefed) but that doesn't mean people weren't hiding somewhere. What I had figured it must be was her casing the house as you guys thought, and also I was thinking that if I walked her to the front gate (at least a 6 minute roundtrip) it would have been a perfect time for accomplices to do a quick run through via an unlocked door and grab whatever was visible. I figured her quick change in personality came after she saw me lock the deadbolt, which I would guess people (including me) normally don't do if they just step out front for a few minutes.

I'll never know for sure whether she was just a scammer kid, an innovative hooker, or part of a burglary outfit, but other posts here lead me to believe the latter.

[PTK]

Went out for a bit to throw trash away and noticed a little note stuck to my door. No idea what it means - "TAM/GBY" is all it said. Looks like it was ripped off one of their order forms and put there. 


The only result on Google relevant to this says.... "T A M G B Y= TAKE A MAGAZINE AND GO BLOW YOURSELF"

How sweet.

[The Annoyed Man]

Went out for a bit to throw trash away and noticed a little note stuck to my door. No idea what it means - "TAM/GBY" is all it said. Looks like it was ripped off one of their order forms and put there. 


The only result on Google relevant to this says.... "T A M G B Y= TAKE A MAGAZINE AND GO BLOW YOURSELF"

How sweet.

Your life is way more exciting than mine.

[Manedwolf]

They left when I shut the door in their face - but not before trying to hold the door open. They finally stopped pounding on my door when I politely told them that the sheriff station was less than a quarter mile away and I was in the process of dialing.

Trying to hold the door open and pounding on the door?

Not that it would ever deter an actually high attacker, but in that case, I believe I would have found it necessary to perform a function check on the action of the 870 within audible distance of the door. And would have called the police, too.

[PTK]

Manedwolf

My FN 5.7 pistol was in my other hand, safety on, while I was dialing. I don't believe in advertising even the sound of a gun as a warning - the only warning they get will be well over 150 dB.

[MechAg94]

I would have called the cops to make a report if they trying to hold the door open and pound on it afterwards.  Normal salespeople don't do that.  I have had people selling magazines and stuff before, but nothing like that. 

There is a Jehovah's Witness (sp) group around here that comes by about once or twice a year.  They usually just hand me a flyer and leave.  I was real surprised the first time that they didn't try to talk to me or anything.  Where I grew up, those people would bring whole families out together and try to stop by and talk to you.

[ilbob]

my ex-wife was a sucker for these peddlers. always bought from them. always wrote the check out in the name of the kid doing the selling. i bet they steal more than they sell.

[Manedwolf]

my ex-wife was a sucker for these peddlers. always bought from them. always wrote the check out in the name of the kid doing the selling. i bet they steal more than they sell.

Then they have your account number and your signature.

[Boomhauer]

Hey, what about the door to door kids that have been basically kidnapped and forced into the work?

Any of ya'll know much about that?

[41magsnub]

Hey, what about the door to door kids that have been basically kidnapped and forced into the work?

Any of ya'll know much about that?

Is that real?  I'd love to see some links on that for further reading.