First published through The Paris News on May 5, 2017. The article can be found on their website at http://theparisnews.com/opinion/article_ae366f60-31a9-11e7-a6dd-571a09b914c9.html

It seems scams are around us everywhere. I’m not saying this guy was one, but I’ve heard about quite a few people acting like security salesmen, just to find out if you have a security system or not. 

Just yesterday, I was cleaning my car after work when someone came up to me and said they worked for a security company. He said his name was Abraham and worked for Vivint. Even if his disguise was nothing but a facade, I wasn’t interested in buying what he was selling.

The confusing thing about the situation was when he asked if I owned the house. I said we rented, and he asked if I was the head of the household — sure, why not. He then asked if I was interested in buying a security system for the house, before asking if I already had one. I said I already did, and that we’ve lived there for about a year and a half, so we secured the place about four months into living there.

Abraham then said “Oh, so you’re probably still in a contract?” I said I was, and it was about a year and a half contract. He then said he would see me again in about 2 months then.

If it was a scam and the guy just wanted to know if I had a security system, he should have thought about his approach a bit better. For one, I was bent over in the back seat of my car picking up trash. Maybe he should have waited until I was out of the car, before trying to sell something to me. Also, maybe asking if I had a security system before trying to sell a security system would’ve been a better question. 

I don’t think the whole ordeal was a scam by any means. After he left, I looked into Vivint and saw it was a real company. Therefore, the salesman was possibly a real salesman just trying to make a dollar.

What makes his position tough is all the thieves trying to break into someone’s home. Scammers commonly go door-to-door pretending to be salesmen, and they would ask if you have a security system. If the homeowner answers no, they know who to target for theft. 

I talked to a friend about my situation and he said the salesman was probably “fishing,” meaning he didn’t really care whether he sold anything or not, he was just looking to see if I had a security system.

Honestly, I’ll probably never know the truth, but the point remains the same — answering no about having a security system could put someone at risk for theft. So, whether you have a security system or not, it might not hurt to answer yes to already having one. It could keep your belongings out of someone else’s hands.