fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3651 ]

[ SECRET POST #3651 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3651 ⌋

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TL;DR ahoy

A couple of evenings ago (6:30 pm?), there was a knock on my apartment door. The only person who ever knocks on my door is my building manager, so I opened it without checking the peephole, only to find a stranger in a nondescript brown uniform holding a clipboard.

I can't remember now how he introduced himself but I think he said he was from [my electricity provider] and that the company had noticed a huge surge of electricity usage coming from this building recently and that it was due to a change in the sub-contracted energy provider we were all getting our electricity from. He said he was sent to get our energy bill account numbers so that [provider] could switch us over to a new sub-contract.

Because my brain likes to take a backseat in situations like this, I was like, "Oh, okay! Let's see, let me check my email to find my account number on the latest bill!"

Luckily(?), although I had my tablet right there with me, my email took forever to load. While I was waiting for it, the guy said, "Don't you have a printed bill you could look at?" I said, "No, sorry, all my bills are online."

More waiting. The guy said, "That's a nice sweater you have on." I was wearing a plain old white cardigan from Target, not worth remarking on in the slightest, so I kind of snorted a laugh and said thanks. More waiting for my email to load, and when it did, I saw the account number only showed the last four digits, which meant I'd have to login to the company's website to get it, only I couldn't remember my ID or password.

The guy was getting impatient (though remained polite), and he said, "I'll come back in a few minutes after I finish with this floor. I'll knock again...let me take down your apartment number." I think I could hear another guy like him knocking on a door down my hallway and talking to the tenant.

I said okay and shut the door, and he never came back.

After an hour or so, I started thinking that this seemed kind of shady, and maybe the two guys were looking to steal people's identities or something, via their energy bill account numbers? I don't remember seeing the energy company's logo on his uniform, and after my email finally loaded, I didn't find any message from the company saying they were sending service people out to my location or anything. Also, the comment about my sweater was puzzling, until later that night I realized that the v-neck blouse under my sweater had a tendency to poof out, and from the guy's view he could probably see down my shirt, at which point the comment became gross.

OTOH, entrance into my apartment building requires either a key or someone to buzz you in, so they would have needed the building manager to let them in, meaning they were legit (unless they slipped in behind someone or someone had propped the outer door open, like people often do). And I am routinely getting emails from my electricity provider saying my energy usage is much higher than anyone else in the area, which doesn't make sense given how careful I am about conserving energy.

I don't know, what do you think about this situation? Was it shady or do these kinds of door-to-door visits from your energy provider happen legitimately?

Edited 2017-01-01 22:47 (UTC)

Call the energy company, ask if they sent someone? If they didn't, they might want to know about this too if peoples' accounts are being compromised.

I don't know; I can see both lines of reasoning being true, tbh. :/ Maybe you can talk to the property manager, and ask if anyone requested access to the building? You might also call the company; if it isn't a scam, you'll know. If it is, they'll know so that they can warn other customers about it.

seconding above anon, you can solve the mystery by calling the provider and seeing if they were sending work crews out. but I'm with you, it sounds majorly shady. Switching accounts doesn't happen at the door to door level, the company could have easily called or emailed you with security verification in place.

So find out if they were legit, and if so, thank your provider and ask them if there are any other means of reducing your bill since, like you say, you're trying. If not, tip them off to watch for identity theft.

Definitely sounds fishy. Honestly, it's super easy to let people in to buildings. I can't count the amount of times I've been let in without people asking.

He was trying to gain access to your apartment to rob (or worse) you, or he was an undercover cop trying to gain access without having to get a search warrant (possibly because there is a power surge in the complex and that means someone is growing weed). Everyone gets mail saying they are using so much electricity that they should get checked and upsold to a different tariff, so it ain't that.

Definitely sounds shady to me. Why would they send someone out to go door-to-door instead of just calling or emailing you (especially with no logo or other company identifier)? And why on Earth would your energy provider need to send someone to find your account number? They already have that info, right? Didn't they generate that info?

Legit shady. Contact your apartment manager.

Electricity companies will almost always deal withe building management directly, and if there is any necessary testing or maintenance it should be clearly displayed on signage around the building at least a week before it occurs. If there's something particularly odd going on you will get emails, letters, or other notification about repairmen, technicians, or representatives of the company coming well before they visit your door.

It may be the case that people are supposed to be buzzed in, but I know from experience that if you look like you belong somewhere or are even just waiting to be let in, someone will almost always hold the door open for you if they're exiting the building. It's simple social engineering.

In the future, you should refer issues about utilities to your building manager/owner. As far as I'm concerned, I cannot make decisions about utilities in my building because I don't own the building. (Actually, where I live, we don't have a choice in two provides electricity or gas - it's just one local utility company - it's not like cable TV or an internet provider where it's up to the tenant to chose, if they even want it at all).

My local energy utility gives it's employees official badges with their photos printed on them. This is because a while ago two guys were going around pretending to be from the utility and asking to look at people's furnaces and whatnot. One could pretend to make notes while the other would case the home and they'd come back later and rob it if it looked like it was a good target. The utility said "Okay, all of our people will have special photo ID now." At my old job, we did some contract work for them, so us contractors all had the official IDs, too. (In fact, that started because my former co-worker was denied access to a property because he couldn't prove he was a contract for the utility, which is certainly fair!) Not everyone does special badges, but asking for some kind of ID/proof is completely within your rights, especially if this is unannounced.

That sounds super-shady. Let your building manager AND the utility company know.

I know that when my mom had a friend who lived in a building where visitors had to be buzzed in, her friend never checked to make sure it was us.

I was pretty sure it's a scam and found this:

https://www.keyframe5.com/why-people-knocking-my-door-asking-to-see-my-energ-bills/

Bless you for that link! Not only is that exactly what happened with me, it makes me feel so much better to know that the guy was just trying to scam me into signing up for a new energy provider, and not, like, casing out my apartment for theft, or me for rape and murder. (...Nope, not going there, want to think positively tonight before I go to bed!)

I sent an email to my building manager letting him know what happened and asking him if anyone else had reported a similar incident. Maybe he'll tighten security around here -- people have been propping open the front door for no discernible purpose a lot lately.

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[ SECRET POST #3651 ]

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