Police warn of repairman scam in Texarkana

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Texarkana police are warning residents of a recent scam involving a repairman claiming to be a Vivint home alarm system employee.

Officials say there have been at least two suspicious incidents in the last couple of weeks in which a man has claimed to be a repairman in apparent attempts to get into people’s homes.

According to Texarkana Texas Police Department the most recent incident took place yesterday afternoon on Magnolia Street, when a white male wearing a Vivint Home Security Company polo shirt approached the residents and tried to persuade them to let him into their home.

The residents did not buy his story and when they questioned him, he refused to identify himself and continued with persistence, going on to say that he was from Vivint and pointed to the Vivint signs in the front yard.

When asked, the man was not able to say what kind of work needed to be done and continued to try to get them to let him into the house. Once it was clear he would not be let into the home, he took off on foot toward Stateline. Officials say this added to the suspiciousness of the situation.

TTPD warns the public of the scam and reminds the public they are under no obligation to let anyone inside their homes – even those that show up looking like official representatives of a company of whom you might actually be a customer.

TTPD offers a few tips in dealing with this particular scam or another suspicious situation:

  • Do not automatically take their word that they are who they say they are – especially if you had not made an appointment with the company for someone to come out. All legitimate service people will have some sort of company identification and will be more than happy to show it to you if you ask.
  • If they are not able to show you identification or you suspect that it might be fake, do not let them into your home.
  • Keep your door locked and tell them that you are going to call the company to verify
  • their identity. If they become insistent to let them in or make you uncomfortable, call us immediately to come check them out.
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