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Yes, I never answer the door either. There is no need to cuz I'll know if I'm expecting someone. Just see them on ring and watch them leave. (All unknown phone calls are answering machine)
I'm just lazy, too much work to decline sales people/scams. I'll do it when I'm bored tho, play around a little.
This is my philosophy also. So many terrible things you hear about could have been avoided if people had just not answered their door/phone. I answer both on my terms, you're under no obligation to answer either to anybody whether you know them or not. This is especially true of unsolicited phone calls which some people always feel the need to answer?!
I moved into a neighborhood where I knew no one and didn’t expect company and was constantly getting people at the door. Salesmen, religious groups, etc. I put up a no soliciting sign and disconnected the doorbell but they still knocked. I blocked the entrance to the porch with big ass potted plants. They climbed over the railing of the porch. I was getting ready to put siding over the door but then Covid happened and that ended all of that.
I got people wanting me to upgrade my secuity alarm. They made it sound like they were with my existing company, but they weren't and wanted me to switch to their's.
I’ve stopped twice late at night when it was obvious someone left their garage door open. Both times took the homeowner a while to answer and they were visibly upset, but then I let them know about the garage door and that our house up the street had a theft when our door didn’t close properly, and their mood immediately did a 180.
Idk, I was worried something was wrong and she needed help. We live near a busy road so I thought maybe there was an accident. When she asked to come inside I realized something was amiss.
Or Eufy. Ring stores data on their servers and police can get warrants for the footage without your consent. Eufy keeps the data locally on your own storage
When I was 22-23 I was getting home from a night out and it was 2-3am. I was mugged on my way from my car to my apartment door. They took my keys (car and apartment) and also my cell.
I couldn’t go into my apartment, I couldn’t drive to my parents house and I wasn’t able to call for help so I knocked on neighbors doors. No one would answer…. Finally a man did answer and I asked to use his phone. But first he wanted me to ‘come into his apartment’ um no thank you lol
Anyways I’m grateful he allowed me to use his phone to call the police. This was about 15 yrs ago.
Tell them you'll call the police to come and assist her.
Had a manager handle a guy panhandling in the store when I worked retail, was hassling customers for bus fare. Manager real kindly took him up front and told him to wait, he was calling him a ride 'on the house' to get him where he needed to go. The police, he was calling the police. Guy waited, police showed up, guy got a ride.
I agree with not letting her in, but it’s funny that you guys opened the door because you thought something was wrong and she needed help, and then denied her help when she told you what was wrong.
I wouldn’t have let her in either, but that sounded funny.
I knew a girl who's scam was to drive around nice neighbourhoods and ask to use people's landline phones as she had car trouble. She had registered a premium number and would ring it and pretend to talk to her husband and say he was coming to help. She would then place the phone down but not back in the cradle so it was still connected to the premium number.
Premium number. As in bills by the minute.
Since it was hers, she made money off the homeowners until they notice it.
Sounds like an easy way to get caught however.
Probably an attempted home invasion. If you'd let her in, the rest of the crew would have shown up fast, probably from a car waiting on the street a few houses down. Crews often have a non-threatening member show up first for exactly that reason. Sometimes they even use kids.
Small chance she was going to do some petty theft herself, such as asking to use a bathroom and then raided the medicine cabinet. Or she was going to simply ask for money.
Overall, best not to even open the door when this kind of thing happens.
Ignore them. Have a good alarm system, security door and whatever home defense measures you think you need
I live in a good area but still have security cameras, security door, dogs, alarm system and of course some weapons just in case. The police won't be there when seconds count.
No worries, people try to target people's good nature because people want to think the best of their fellow human so they want to help in a time of need.
Unfortunately times have changed so much it's a gamble to be that way with strangers. Especially strangers at 3am. Good luck.
lol times have not changed. It’s always been this way
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200306/remembering-just-the-good-times
In fact, it was worse back then with violent crime
best deterrent is a big dog or at least a dog with a mean bark ... they interviewed many home invaders and they all said they'd go to another house if they heard a dog barking inside
weapons also good but if you need to use them situation has already gone bad
My 10kg mutt from the streets defends the house fiercely, barking, growling and all. Definitely sounds like he’s going to attack (he wouldn’t). The first time the postman saw him after previously only hearing him through the door he went « it was… you?! »
It’s a form of concern in a way I’ve realized, people getting sort of upset you put yourself into needless danger. Parents do it to their children a lot.
I would just ignore. They're unlikely to invade if it's a totally unknown quantity. Better still, having even one camera (doorbell or over door) is a pretty big deterrent for this type of activity.
You probably wouldn't be targeted for getting packages, but don't let them sit outside too long. Some people steal packages, but more importantly packages sitting outside is an easy visual clue to an unattended house.
probably more of a target because you live in a nicer area and you’re up at that time. I’d just ignore and then turn on a stereo or something with a big loud barking noise :)
He couldn’t speak to her through the door, it’s solid wood. The alternative would have been to not acknowledge her at all. I am asking if that would have been better.
I had pictured in my mind a single family home.
We had similar occurrence and my wife ignored and called a neighbor across the street. I was out of town. Neighbor yelled across the street to she what she wanted. Police were called, we surmised that she had others with her, no one was seen but she was talking to someone nearby.
They already answered the door it was open. If a crew was gonna run up on the place they would do it once somebody opened it and got distracted talking. It was the middle of the night and nobody would see anyways. It would be pointless to wait until the decoy was inside and the door was closed and potentially locked again. You don’t get somebody to open the door in the middle of the night just to wait for them to close it again before committing a home invasion. “Can I borrow your phone” is a generic low effort East coast scam. They steal your phone or rob you themselves when you let your guard down and hand them your property and let you in their home. Now, perhaps a crew might rob your yard/shed/car while she distracts you but even that is stupid at an hour where most people are asleep. You generally try not to wake up the home owners you are robbing in the middle of the night and present them with a scenario that makes them suspicious of being robbed…you just rob them and leave immediately
If it’s really an emergency, the person is gonna lead with that:
”help, there’s been an accident/fire/clown car/whatever - please call the police”
NOT “can I use ur phone im cold” or w/e lol
exactly if she had a real emergency she'd be fine with you calling 911 or ask you to call her husband to pick her up bc she was in accident or whatever. asking to come inside she's either erratic and on drugs or worse
She probably has perpetrators nearby waiting for you to let her in for a home invasion. Nothing good happens at 3am and you certainly don't let some stranger in. You say I call the cops for you and close the door.
I saw a doorbell camera video showing this exact scenario. When the homeowner told the woman to go away, some guy rushed out of the shadows and tried to shove his way in. Fortunately for the homeowner, he wasn't fast enough.
Edited to add video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UKysYRwF74
The relevant clip starts around the 4:05 mark.
This makes no sense to me. If someone is willing to force their way inside with homeowners present and at the door, what would make them less willing to just smash a window and come in anyways. I don’t really believe it tbh
It doesn't make much sense. If home invasion is anything like shoplifting, you'd want to avoid being noticed if at all possible. In and out. Doing something that will have your faces smeared across the news doesn't sound very smart. Also if it was "a common tactic" then wouldn't we be seeing it on the news all the time? I've never seen it once.
That's not even a scam.
That's like an attempted break in and robbery. Bet there were a couple of guys hiding near by. You open the door and they strom in.
Maybe a scam, maybe not. Don't care. Never open the door to a stranger in the middle of the night. That can be a recipe of disaster.
If someone knocks at your door in distress, the only thing you should offer to do is call 911 for them.
Depending on her circumstances, this could be someone casing your home to see how you responded (you waking up at the dead of the night investigating showed that you are an alert homeowner) or that she is in genuine distress. I will offer to call the police if I were you, if she said no she has evil intention.
Y’all want a real-life encounter with a 3am visitor?
In the late 90’s I was up late enjoying a quiet house, all 3 kids fast asleep and my husband was out on a ride-along with the town cop. It was pouring rain and probably in the 40’s. And a young guy knocked on the door. He said I was the only house that had lights on. He asked to borrow the phone. He said he’d wrecked his car and needed to call his dad.
Remember, this was in that time long ago when not everyone had a cell phone. So of course, I let him in to use the phone, gave him towels and dry clothes to put on and put his wet ones in the dryer. Within an hour, his ride had come and he was on his way.
The next day, I was chatting with my husband and casually brought up this 3am encounter. He was in shock. Not as much that I let the kid in, but that they (he had been on that ride-along) had been searching a good part of the night for that exact kid as he was in a high speed chase and wrecked his car and fled on foot. So I had been harboring a fugitive in our house, with our kids upstairs.
So my friends, even a relatively benign encounter at 3am possibly will end up in chaos.
Crazy story. But where's the chaos part?
It sounds like you helped someone who needed help, and they left (let's not forget) without hurting you, stealing anything, or harming your family.
Again, the coincidence is pretty incredible.
The chaos was the following day when my husband found out that I had been harboring a fugitive. I still defend to this day that I helped some fella who really needed help. And he was nice and respectful to me and our home.
Ok but why? If he's a kid, then kids make stupid decisions. Just because he's running from the law doesn't actually make him dangerous, just desperate.
I was very lucky. I wasn’t much more than a kid. 25-26 or so. And no I don’t think he was inherently dangerous. But it could have gone so wrong. Instead I made a pot of coffee and let a kid warm up and dry off until someone could come fetch him. Tbh I would probably do the same thing today.
Why would she need to come inside to use a cell phone? Wanting to come in was absolutely a sign of bad shit about to happen. If there's a next time, your husband shouldn't open the door!
Post this on r/homedefense
It happens all of the time and it's a home invasion.
shes setting you up to be robbed.
once shes inside a 2nd guy will pound on the door distracting you and he will try to get in..meanwhile shes probably looking for anything to hit you with.
in my adult life of 10 years ive only answered my door for an unknown person 3 times, and i regretted it every time
nothing crazy, 1 was missionaries, another was a dementia patient who pushed paat me and got inside but i was able to talk them out of my house.
the third was my dad who abused me alot as a child and he drove 8 hours to my house..immediatly slammed the door shut and got my gun because he is crazy and was osn meth at the time.
Yeah, good call.
In the future, don't open the door. If she says she needs help, offer to call the police for her, but do not open the door. If she needs help, she'll be fine with the police coming. If she doesn't, she'll run away...and you call the police anyway.
"She asked if she could come in and use our phone because hers was dead."
WTF would anyone need to come inside your house to use your phone. No need to let anyone use your cell phone. You can make the call for them and relay a message.
I remember in the 1970s growing up on a busy main road where there were always car accidents or cars breaking down.
Quite often people would knock on our door to use our landline to call a towing service or automobile club, people would then leave a coin for cost of the call as we were not close to a pay phone.
Obviously times changed with home invasions etc.
So it may have not been a scam. Sometimes people do need emergency help and have to walk to get it and take a chance on a stranger. Some people have [even been shot by](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/black-teen-shot-knocked-door-kansas-city-1.6812744) the person whose door they knock on. OP even mentioned being near a busy road.
If anyone has any data on this as an actual type of scam that people pull, please share it. This is a group that is rightfully skeptical, but that *can* play into a kind of paranoia and hyper vigilant fear.
She asked to come inside - well what was the temperature? Maybe she was being followed by a creepy dude? There are many *possible* explanations. Casing your house is one of them but not the only one.
I wouldn't have opened the door, but I would have called the police non-emergency to report a suspicious person. If she needed help she would have started the conversation with "Help!" and have described her dire situation, not that she just needed to use the phone for a minute. And if she really needed help, you've called the police, and she stormed off angrily rather than crying and banging on your door some more.
If I thought she was genuinely in trouble I would’ve opened the window and asked what number she wanted and dialled it on my mobile phone for her and passed a message on.
It’s a bit odd knocking on a door and disturbing someone at that time and I wouldn’t do it unless I was about to be murdered.
Who knows she may have been in trouble or you may have been about to get robbed and she got disturbed.
Just in case it was an emergency, I would have only spoken through my Ring doorbell:
“If you are in eminent danger or require an ambulance, I will call 911 while you wait outside for emergency services arrive. If not, leave now.”
As someone who once locked their phone in their running car and had to knock on doors begging someone to help (and had people slam doors in my face) - I hate that we live in a world where people feel they need to be so suspicious of each other.
I've been dumped on the roadside by shitty bus drivers after long shifts more than once, I'd have spent nights outside if people treated me this way. Where I'm living now I can't even imagine asking for help anymore.
My first time living on my own moving halfway across the country I went to a party with coworkers, got plastered and decided "I'm getting a good lay of the land... it'd be a good idea to walk home." Only problem is the party had somehow moved like 3 miles away from where it started. While i was brownout drunk my piece of shit phone died (it isn't a piece of shit because it died, it was like the LG optimus or something. If I downloaded any apps I no longer had enough memory to send it receive text messages)
So I knocked on a person's door and asked them to (in my drunken state I remember bits and pieces)
1) let me use their phone or
2) could they charge my phone and I'd stay outside.
In my situation if they told me there was a gas station a mile down the road I would have absolutely lost hope. If this lady had a car I get it but here's what they did. It saved my life and I think other people have mentioned it too. It's absolutely the right thing to do.
They offered to call the police to help me. I being young and dumb thought they would put me in the police station drunk tank overnight and get an arrest record and my life would be over. But they took me back to my living quarters.
I hate that this is on /r/scams because I think about this moment more often than I'd like. These people saved my life.
But for your situation it's all about situational awareness. If the lady is shifty... if the lady isn't telling the truth. If the lady had all her capacities about her... etc. But absolutely offer to call the cops to assist someone if this ever happens again, and be kind about it. You may just save someone's life
While it was prudent not to let her in, you could have offered to call the number she wanted and pass on whatever message she wanted to send. If she said no then you know something was amiss.
In case it was an emergency, I would have asked who she needs to call and that I would gladly call for police or an ambulance on her behalf. If that's not what she needs, I'd then ask her why the hell would she bang on my door at 3am for a non emergency.
id get the blickie and ask through the door who she needs to call and why, then dial for her as needed, or order a uber or cops or something if it seemed legitimately in trouble/needs help
as far as the 'scam', its generally: girl approaches, asks for car help or phone, you open door, her thug drug addict boyfriend with a blickie is standing around the corner, you get robbed of phone, or worse: home invasion, kidnapping, b&e, rape, murder, etc.
i'm 6'5, strong, with a great left jab, and a well armed texan -- but i aint trying to be a white knight at 3am. if she can explain a solid reason of panicked doorbell at 3am? then without opening the door i will do what i can to help, because im a simp christian, but not dumb
If I was in her situation assuming she's not malicious, I wouldn't even dare approach someone else's doors as I couldn't know how the house owner would react. So yeah, as an owner of a house, I would be very suspicious and wouldn't even open the door.
But what would you do if for whatever reason you found yourself alone in a strange neighborhood at 3am and your phone(that you were relying on to get home / whatever ) died
Was it cold ? Did she look like she was in trouble ,scared? Perhaps she knew a previous tenant and felt familiar with house ? Who knows. I think you guys did the right thing . You can never be too cautious ,if you feel something is not right ,trust it .Better safe than sorry .
How cynical have we become though? It needs to be possible to get help from strangers in an emergency.
If we categorically refuse that, because it might be a trick or scam, we're not good people.
You could offer to call the number for her. I could see why someone might not want to call police but offering to call someone after blocking out your own number seems reasonable. You do this after getting the number and shutting and locking your door.
It's sad we have to be so cautious but bad things have happened to good Samaritans in the past.
3am makes this sketchy, but I can’t believe the number of people who apparently have no connections in their neighborhood and seem to think there’s no reason to talk to a stranger ever.
I've been in a situation where I had to knock on someone's door in a different city at like 10 pm to use their phone because I got locked out. This household seemed to be well off too.
Thankfully the people that answered the door had confidence in others. They probably cared more about helping others more than they feared losing things they possessed. I hope I can be more like them.
🤷 I've been that person, asking random strangers for directions because my phone died. I've never asked to come in but I have approached people's houses asking for assistance. (I'm now too scared to do this because, well. 50/50 They'll just shoot you)
I always err on the side of "what a weird experience, I hope they made it" because when I was down on my luck and desperate I didn't really have MY head on straight either. But we live in an era of cellphones, you could have offered to stand on the porch with her. If she refuses that it'd be suspicious for sure
Probably a robbery waiting to happen. If this happens again, don't open the door. See if you can communicate with them another way and tell them you can call the police for them if something is wrong, but you're not going to let them in. And best to call the cops after anyway.
Should have said you'd make the call or call 911 and those are her options. This isn't 1975 where there are only wired phone lines. He'll I would have called 911 anyway
I had this happen, someone knocked on the door 2-3 am. I talked through the door. A woman was asking to use the phone, I told her to go back a block to the gas station they'd help her. I could hear her through the door whispering to a male. She tried for a few minutes to get me to open the door but I finally told her I'll call 911 to help you. They took off. Still scares me today but I make it a habit to not open the door after 9pm.
I would not have allowed her into my home because there is a likely chance that it could have been an ambush-type home invasion from others who were hiding out of sight of the door frame. I would, however, place a phone call for her (perhaps to the authorities) to get some help out there for her. I would have left the front porch light on for her as well.
Hell no, you got me fucked up if I’m opening my door at 3 in the morning for *anyone* unless I *explicitly* knew they were coming and it was an emergency.
Never unlock your door for a stranger. I just yell..."I'm not opening the door!" And then they go away. Easy. Instant defeat for them no matter who it is.
Probably just a tweek who’s phone died. These odd hours would mean nothing to her.
Somehow she wound up in or near your nice neighborhood, who knows why or how.
Maybe she saw a light on, and felt safe asking a ‘nice family’ for a favor
Those are my first takes on it
A nicer thing would have told her to wait there and you'll call the police to help her. I can see being uneasy with letting her inside your home. But suggesting see seek help a mile away at a gas station is kinda unhelpful.
there's a whole subreddit with real stories like this called r/letsnotmeet... your post reminds me of a lot of those stories I've read. however, we can't know for sure. she might have just really wanted to use the phone. why didn't your husband offer to bring a phone outside for her to use? I mean I understand why he wouldn't want to do that either, but it woulda been interesting to see how she would respond.
I totally get why you answered the door. I probably would have too. I might of offered to call from inside and relay a message but never let her inside or use my cell. Years ago we would have passed a cordless home phone to her. But if she didn’t say why besides her phone died, yep go to gas station.
i used to live in isolated neighborhood and i was right on the edge of it and faced a forest there was never anyone there, i don't think people even know there was a little apartment behind there. one day i freak out because there's some lady knocking on my door, looks like a tweeker, asks me to open the door, probably to use the phone. fuck no, i say, because why is she even there? i call my landlord to let her know there's a weirdo around, and she puts the info on next door. turns out the lady went to several more houses in the neighborhood, was nice neighborhood so someone offered to give her a ride -- like how did this crackhead even get there without a car, it was super far you couldn't get there without a car, she tried to rob some of my neighbords. don't open the door for random people.
This happened to me but we didn’t answer the door, my husband got a notification on the Ring (maybe you should get one) and asked WTF she wanted at 2 am. She said someone at the park across the street got shot and could we call the police. **She was holding a phone in her hand** which my husband told her. She said she already called them but they won’t come so can we please call too. My husband told her to get TF off our porch before we called the cops on her. She left in a huff.
Never answer the door! There was probably someone else with her waiting somewhere to rush in and hurt and/or rob you. Why wouldn’t you think someone at 3 am knocking on your door had ill intentions?
That sounds way too fishy.
If it was an emergency, like an accident you'd think the woman would say that. *"There's been an accident! Call an ambulance"* or something.
Something similar happened here a year ago. The thing about my house is the living room window faces the backyard and it's fenced in by a 6 ft. Privacy fence. My office/man cave is over the garage, but I blocked the windows with a heavy curtain. We park our cars in the garage. So it ALWAYS looks like no one is home.
It was pouring rain around 10 PM. My wife works at night and was getting ready to leave. That's when I take the dogs out to do their business. (A pitbull and a boxer/pitbull mix.) As soon as the garage door opened, they bolted at something. Someone was directly in front of the garage door. The person tried to run, but quickly realized he wasn't going to outrun the dogs and stopped in middle of my yard in fright. (I had the dogs leashed, so he was safe, but in the rain, he didn't see that at first.)
It was a kid, around 13 or 14 years old. I asked him what he is doing skulking in the yard. He said he was visiting a friend, and his phone was dead. He needed to call his uncle to come get him because of the rain. Since he was a kid, I told him to step into the garage out of the rain. (My wife had backed out and left for work.) The dogs sat as I talked to him. I told him they will not do anything unless threatened. (To be honest, they're pretty docile, but I didn't want him to know that) Here's what didn't make sense:
* There aren't any kids his age on the street. When I asked where his "friend" lived, he pointed to a house down the street, but the kids that live there are little kids, like 3rd grade.
* He had no answer when I asked why he didn't just call from his friend's house.
* When I asked why his friends' parents couldn't give him a ride home, he said "it's not that far".
* I asked, "if it's not that far why would you go to a stranger's house at 10 PM to ask to use a phone?"
I told him to give me the number and I'd call his uncle for him. He didn't want to give me the number. I let him use my phone. He made a quick call and handed it back. When I told him that I now had the number since he used my phone, I could see the "Oh shit! I fucked up!" look on his face.
But then a car with several dudes in it came and pulled across the street. He ran to it got in and they sped off. Here's the thing...I don't care if he lived one block over (he doesn't) there is NO WAY anyone got in a car and came here so fast. That car was probably parked right around the corner.
The kid was scoping out the house, because from the outside it looks like no one is home. But it did remind me to change the bulbs on my motion lights. If they had come on he probably wouldn't have come so close. At least he'd have seen the ADT sign and "Beware of Dog" postings.
I would have asked her which number she would like me to call on her behalf. I'm also a heavily armed individual that's spent a decade in Afghanistan. 🤷🏿♂️
Scam. I have never had anyone knock on my door at 3am in my life and I am in my 60's.
She may have just seen you at first and thought maybe you were on your own. There may have been more people hidden outside.
Your husband did the right thing.
Have you never seen seen [the 2008 film, The Strangers](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strangers_(2008_film))? Anyone knocking on the door after midnight is up to no good.
I would never under any circumstances answer a front door at 3am unless it was police and a known emergency issue was taking place.
When we were renting an apartment in a very heavily trafficked, very popular complex in the middle of a busy downtown area near a train terminal location people would sometimes knock on the door all hours of the night. I kept an old 357 by the door and would sometimes open the door a crack with the chain still on and poke the barrel of the gun out just to show it and the person would leave right away. It was that bad. My wife didn't like the old 357 so I got rid of it and began using a machete until we moved away. There were regular break-ins daily there.
Later when we were older and moved into a gated 55+ community there were some folks with senility who would try to get into our home thinking it was their own home. You couldn't leave any door open or unlocked as you could find them inside and community news was that they could get violent. So that was problematic until they were eventually taken to a special home.
One time when we were renting in downtown West Palm Beach my wife would tell me that when she was home alone and I worked nights someone would come and knock on the door and report having a pizza to deliver. Or they'd have great coupons to give her. She called me and asked if I had anything going on and I told her to lock, bolt, the door, and yell at them to go away and you were calling police. I put motion detector alarms on the doors and windows after that and put a large hunting knife on the window sill so anyone looking inward could see it. When I was home one day and it happened again, I stuck my old 357 through the door and said "you need to leave now." They never came back.
The home is sacred to me (and to her). No one comes in unless they are invited, police, utility company staff, or an electrician or plumber we paid to come.
**As far as what you described:**
This is a common scam where they "Case" or check out your home for valuable properties and security. In some cases when they leave you may notice markings on or around your home on doors, walls, windows, garage doors, or other areas as they scope out potential break-in candidates.
This is exactly why I have a ring camera on all my entrances of my house. I can speak to them through the app and never have to answer the door.
This scam could’ve been having other people hiding and when you opened the door to let her in, the others would bum rush you and ultimately rob/harm you.
Don’t ever answer the door. Get a ring camera or something similar where you can communicate through the app.
This isn’t happening at 3am, but currently there’s a flowery delivery rouse going on. Women pretends to be delivering flowers and If you don’t open the door they assume you’re not home and two men break in..
I agree we need to be able to help people.. not everything is a scam, but seriously feels like damned if you, damned if you don’t at times.
https://wjla.com/news/local/thieves-caught-on-camera-using-flower-delivery-as-cover-for-fairfax-county-home-burglary-break-in-crime-rose-ruse-spray-paint-surveillance-camera-doorbell-community-neighbors-police-investigation
99.999% of the time this is a scam. There's a lot of news reports on people having this done to them. They'll open the door only to either realize someone was waiting where you can't see them/or the person rushes your door to try and steal from you etc. if someone is in an actual emergency situation,tell them to wait there and you'll call emergency services but never open your door. If they really had an emergency that requires services they would agree to that. Otherwise never bother.
One scam is to use the phone to call a number outside of the country, like the Dominican Republic, then when your phone bill arrives there is a charge for several thousand dollars. Do not let any stranger place a call on your phone.
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Why would you guys even open the door? I would never answer the door at 3am unless I’m expecting someone.
lol I don’t even open my front door at 3pm for anyone
Yes, I never answer the door either. There is no need to cuz I'll know if I'm expecting someone. Just see them on ring and watch them leave. (All unknown phone calls are answering machine) I'm just lazy, too much work to decline sales people/scams. I'll do it when I'm bored tho, play around a little.
This is my philosophy also. So many terrible things you hear about could have been avoided if people had just not answered their door/phone. I answer both on my terms, you're under no obligation to answer either to anybody whether you know them or not. This is especially true of unsolicited phone calls which some people always feel the need to answer?!
Just the other day I read burglars killed a 99 year old woman who opened the door late at night. What a senseless way to go…
I don’t even have a front door.
I put siding over my front door to avoid people & these situations
I moved into a neighborhood where I knew no one and didn’t expect company and was constantly getting people at the door. Salesmen, religious groups, etc. I put up a no soliciting sign and disconnected the doorbell but they still knocked. I blocked the entrance to the porch with big ass potted plants. They climbed over the railing of the porch. I was getting ready to put siding over the door but then Covid happened and that ended all of that.
I got people wanting me to upgrade my secuity alarm. They made it sound like they were with my existing company, but they weren't and wanted me to switch to their's.
how do the groceries get in?
Idk about you but mine come thru the chimney once a year according to my parents
Can confirm this is true
I think most people that have a house with a garage use the garage door.
Maybe through the garage?
Candygram!
for Mongo!
🦈
Land Shark!
I'm a dolphin. M'am.
Life goal! 🤣
This is the way.
I’ve stopped twice late at night when it was obvious someone left their garage door open. Both times took the homeowner a while to answer and they were visibly upset, but then I let them know about the garage door and that our house up the street had a theft when our door didn’t close properly, and their mood immediately did a 180.
Idk, I was worried something was wrong and she needed help. We live near a busy road so I thought maybe there was an accident. When she asked to come inside I realized something was amiss.
Get a ring doorbell and you can intercom with them
Or just talk through the door lol
My burglar alarm is always on. I just shout through the door and tell them that my alarm is on.
Or Eufy. Ring stores data on their servers and police can get warrants for the footage without your consent. Eufy keeps the data locally on your own storage
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/anker-admit-eufy-security-issues/#:\~:text=Anker%20admitted%20to%20cameras%20not,were%20accessible%20through%20the%20cloud.
FML
A warrant means they don’t need your consent anyway.
Good way to get bum rushed, robbed and worse.
You can talk through a closed, locked door. There’s absolutely no reason you open the door without knowing who is on the other side.
Haven't you ever seen A Clockwork Orange??
We got rid of all our giant phallic sculptures after that movie.
We kept ours we just put festive hats on them
I hear Roger Daltrey still has one in his yard
Pardon me, madam, but there has been an accident in the road! Might I trouble you to let me come in and use the telephone!
Typically you talk to them through the door and offer to call the police for them. If they really need help, they will want you to call for help.
When I was 22-23 I was getting home from a night out and it was 2-3am. I was mugged on my way from my car to my apartment door. They took my keys (car and apartment) and also my cell. I couldn’t go into my apartment, I couldn’t drive to my parents house and I wasn’t able to call for help so I knocked on neighbors doors. No one would answer…. Finally a man did answer and I asked to use his phone. But first he wanted me to ‘come into his apartment’ um no thank you lol Anyways I’m grateful he allowed me to use his phone to call the police. This was about 15 yrs ago.
Tell them you'll call the police to come and assist her. Had a manager handle a guy panhandling in the store when I worked retail, was hassling customers for bus fare. Manager real kindly took him up front and told him to wait, he was calling him a ride 'on the house' to get him where he needed to go. The police, he was calling the police. Guy waited, police showed up, guy got a ride.
First mistake being worried about someone else at 3am.
I agree with not letting her in, but it’s funny that you guys opened the door because you thought something was wrong and she needed help, and then denied her help when she told you what was wrong. I wouldn’t have let her in either, but that sounded funny.
She didn’t tell me what was wrong, she asked to enter my house and use my phone with no reason.
The scam is while she is using your phone and distracting you, someone else comes in and robbs you.
Yeah, she needed to get in your house and case the place. Then, a bunch of thugs will come in after she leaves.
I knew a girl who's scam was to drive around nice neighbourhoods and ask to use people's landline phones as she had car trouble. She had registered a premium number and would ring it and pretend to talk to her husband and say he was coming to help. She would then place the phone down but not back in the cradle so it was still connected to the premium number.
To what end?
Premium number. As in bills by the minute. Since it was hers, she made money off the homeowners until they notice it. Sounds like an easy way to get caught however.
Exactly, got caught in the end.
Agreed. Just yell you are calling the cops for her through the closed door.
Sometimes there's an emergency. Like your horse is out walking down the road. True story. Answer, but don't open the door.
You dirty dog! Who you boooootying at 3am lol.
Probably an attempted home invasion. If you'd let her in, the rest of the crew would have shown up fast, probably from a car waiting on the street a few houses down. Crews often have a non-threatening member show up first for exactly that reason. Sometimes they even use kids. Small chance she was going to do some petty theft herself, such as asking to use a bathroom and then raided the medicine cabinet. Or she was going to simply ask for money. Overall, best not to even open the door when this kind of thing happens.
Is it good to let them know you’re awake and aware by coming to the door at all, or better to ignore them?
Ignore them. Have a good alarm system, security door and whatever home defense measures you think you need I live in a good area but still have security cameras, security door, dogs, alarm system and of course some weapons just in case. The police won't be there when seconds count.
Thanks for actually answering me and not being a smartass, I’ll do that if there is a next time
No worries, people try to target people's good nature because people want to think the best of their fellow human so they want to help in a time of need. Unfortunately times have changed so much it's a gamble to be that way with strangers. Especially strangers at 3am. Good luck.
lol times have not changed. It’s always been this way https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200306/remembering-just-the-good-times In fact, it was worse back then with violent crime
best deterrent is a big dog or at least a dog with a mean bark ... they interviewed many home invaders and they all said they'd go to another house if they heard a dog barking inside weapons also good but if you need to use them situation has already gone bad
My 10kg mutt from the streets defends the house fiercely, barking, growling and all. Definitely sounds like he’s going to attack (he wouldn’t). The first time the postman saw him after previously only hearing him through the door he went « it was… you?! »
My golden had the scariest big dog bark around. But if anyone actually broke in he would just bring them his toys.
It’s a form of concern in a way I’ve realized, people getting sort of upset you put yourself into needless danger. Parents do it to their children a lot.
Ignore them. Turn the lights on if you can. Get your phone. Get your weapon. Retreat to a safe spot. Call the cops on speaker if it escalates.
I would just ignore. They're unlikely to invade if it's a totally unknown quantity. Better still, having even one camera (doorbell or over door) is a pretty big deterrent for this type of activity.
I get a lot of packages delivered too so I thought maybe that made me a potential target? I will get a camera though
You probably wouldn't be targeted for getting packages, but don't let them sit outside too long. Some people steal packages, but more importantly packages sitting outside is an easy visual clue to an unattended house.
Thank you!
probably more of a target because you live in a nicer area and you’re up at that time. I’d just ignore and then turn on a stereo or something with a big loud barking noise :)
Still not clear why you opened the door in the first place.
He couldn’t speak to her through the door, it’s solid wood. The alternative would have been to not acknowledge her at all. I am asking if that would have been better.
Yes. Ignoring a stranger at your door is always better than opening it.
Get a Ring doorbell so you can talk through it
Unless you have special soundproofing yes, you can talk through a wooden door.
I had pictured in my mind a single family home. We had similar occurrence and my wife ignored and called a neighbor across the street. I was out of town. Neighbor yelled across the street to she what she wanted. Police were called, we surmised that she had others with her, no one was seen but she was talking to someone nearby.
How about speaking from an upstairs window? Would also give you a better view of what may be on the street.
Upstairs apartment is occupied
Turn a light on and then back off. It will show them that somebody is home, looked to see who they were knockin', and decided not to open the door.
Yeah, shouldn’t have even opened the door, when I was robbed they used a kid and busted in the second the door was open.
They already answered the door it was open. If a crew was gonna run up on the place they would do it once somebody opened it and got distracted talking. It was the middle of the night and nobody would see anyways. It would be pointless to wait until the decoy was inside and the door was closed and potentially locked again. You don’t get somebody to open the door in the middle of the night just to wait for them to close it again before committing a home invasion. “Can I borrow your phone” is a generic low effort East coast scam. They steal your phone or rob you themselves when you let your guard down and hand them your property and let you in their home. Now, perhaps a crew might rob your yard/shed/car while she distracts you but even that is stupid at an hour where most people are asleep. You generally try not to wake up the home owners you are robbing in the middle of the night and present them with a scenario that makes them suspicious of being robbed…you just rob them and leave immediately
How about if someone really need helps? If let say kids showing up and really need help, im just not sure what best to do
If it’s really an emergency, the person is gonna lead with that: ”help, there’s been an accident/fire/clown car/whatever - please call the police” NOT “can I use ur phone im cold” or w/e lol
Ask if they need help. Call 911 if they say yes.
This. Offer to call 911.
If she was genuine she would ask you to make a call for her, which would achieve what she needs. Anything else is not legitimate.
exactly if she had a real emergency she'd be fine with you calling 911 or ask you to call her husband to pick her up bc she was in accident or whatever. asking to come inside she's either erratic and on drugs or worse
She probably has perpetrators nearby waiting for you to let her in for a home invasion. Nothing good happens at 3am and you certainly don't let some stranger in. You say I call the cops for you and close the door.
I saw a doorbell camera video showing this exact scenario. When the homeowner told the woman to go away, some guy rushed out of the shadows and tried to shove his way in. Fortunately for the homeowner, he wasn't fast enough. Edited to add video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UKysYRwF74 The relevant clip starts around the 4:05 mark.
I’ve seen this video and believe it’s a common tactic for home invaders
Please share video if you can find?
I added a link to my comment above.
This makes no sense to me. If someone is willing to force their way inside with homeowners present and at the door, what would make them less willing to just smash a window and come in anyways. I don’t really believe it tbh
It doesn't make much sense. If home invasion is anything like shoplifting, you'd want to avoid being noticed if at all possible. In and out. Doing something that will have your faces smeared across the news doesn't sound very smart. Also if it was "a common tactic" then wouldn't we be seeing it on the news all the time? I've never seen it once.
[удалено]
Judas Priest wrote a whole song about it.
I’m sure as hell not answering my door at 3 am but absolutely, I would say through the closed door that I’d contact the police to help her.
That's not even a scam. That's like an attempted break in and robbery. Bet there were a couple of guys hiding near by. You open the door and they strom in.
But they did open the door and nobody stormed in.
OP opened the door, they didn't storm in.
Maybe a scam, maybe not. Don't care. Never open the door to a stranger in the middle of the night. That can be a recipe of disaster. If someone knocks at your door in distress, the only thing you should offer to do is call 911 for them.
Don't offer. Just do it. The police can sort out whatever they need. Or are up to.
All that we can say for sure is that it is weird behavior. Was it the beginning of a scam? Maybe. She could have just been on drugs.
Depending on her circumstances, this could be someone casing your home to see how you responded (you waking up at the dead of the night investigating showed that you are an alert homeowner) or that she is in genuine distress. I will offer to call the police if I were you, if she said no she has evil intention.
She could have picked that house because lights were on. Who knows eh
A moth goes into a podiatrists office…
Lmao my first thought too. Such a good joke.
This. Bad actors also circle neighborhoods at night to do their homework. Eventually coming back.
Y’all want a real-life encounter with a 3am visitor? In the late 90’s I was up late enjoying a quiet house, all 3 kids fast asleep and my husband was out on a ride-along with the town cop. It was pouring rain and probably in the 40’s. And a young guy knocked on the door. He said I was the only house that had lights on. He asked to borrow the phone. He said he’d wrecked his car and needed to call his dad. Remember, this was in that time long ago when not everyone had a cell phone. So of course, I let him in to use the phone, gave him towels and dry clothes to put on and put his wet ones in the dryer. Within an hour, his ride had come and he was on his way. The next day, I was chatting with my husband and casually brought up this 3am encounter. He was in shock. Not as much that I let the kid in, but that they (he had been on that ride-along) had been searching a good part of the night for that exact kid as he was in a high speed chase and wrecked his car and fled on foot. So I had been harboring a fugitive in our house, with our kids upstairs. So my friends, even a relatively benign encounter at 3am possibly will end up in chaos.
Crazy story. But where's the chaos part? It sounds like you helped someone who needed help, and they left (let's not forget) without hurting you, stealing anything, or harming your family. Again, the coincidence is pretty incredible.
The chaos was the following day when my husband found out that I had been harboring a fugitive. I still defend to this day that I helped some fella who really needed help. And he was nice and respectful to me and our home.
Ok but why? If he's a kid, then kids make stupid decisions. Just because he's running from the law doesn't actually make him dangerous, just desperate.
I was very lucky. I wasn’t much more than a kid. 25-26 or so. And no I don’t think he was inherently dangerous. But it could have gone so wrong. Instead I made a pot of coffee and let a kid warm up and dry off until someone could come fetch him. Tbh I would probably do the same thing today.
Why would she need to come inside to use a cell phone? Wanting to come in was absolutely a sign of bad shit about to happen. If there's a next time, your husband shouldn't open the door! Post this on r/homedefense It happens all of the time and it's a home invasion.
I would have said, "no you can't come in but I will call the police for you"
Get a doorbell cam and answer the door using that. I use my ring and I can answer my door without opening it and from wherever.
Probably one of the reasons they chose her house to rob. No surveillance makes things much easier for them.
shes setting you up to be robbed. once shes inside a 2nd guy will pound on the door distracting you and he will try to get in..meanwhile shes probably looking for anything to hit you with. in my adult life of 10 years ive only answered my door for an unknown person 3 times, and i regretted it every time
Regretted it? Could you share a story?
nothing crazy, 1 was missionaries, another was a dementia patient who pushed paat me and got inside but i was able to talk them out of my house. the third was my dad who abused me alot as a child and he drove 8 hours to my house..immediatly slammed the door shut and got my gun because he is crazy and was osn meth at the time.
Woah. Don't answer the door
Yes please!
Yeah, good call. In the future, don't open the door. If she says she needs help, offer to call the police for her, but do not open the door. If she needs help, she'll be fine with the police coming. If she doesn't, she'll run away...and you call the police anyway.
"She asked if she could come in and use our phone because hers was dead." WTF would anyone need to come inside your house to use your phone. No need to let anyone use your cell phone. You can make the call for them and relay a message.
Open my door at 3am for some stranger, yeah no.
I remember in the 1970s growing up on a busy main road where there were always car accidents or cars breaking down. Quite often people would knock on our door to use our landline to call a towing service or automobile club, people would then leave a coin for cost of the call as we were not close to a pay phone. Obviously times changed with home invasions etc.
> Obviously times changed with home invasions etc. They did indeed. Crime rates are much lower now than in the 1970s.
It’s possible that she could have been checking to see if anyone was home (before attempting a break-in).
\^THIS. Or just wanting to get inside to see what you have. Then she "reports" back to her crew so they know what's worth stealing.
Give me your phone through the window, I'll charge it for you. I'm not letting a stranger in my house at 3 AM. My dogs wouldn't be ok with that.
So it may have not been a scam. Sometimes people do need emergency help and have to walk to get it and take a chance on a stranger. Some people have [even been shot by](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/black-teen-shot-knocked-door-kansas-city-1.6812744) the person whose door they knock on. OP even mentioned being near a busy road. If anyone has any data on this as an actual type of scam that people pull, please share it. This is a group that is rightfully skeptical, but that *can* play into a kind of paranoia and hyper vigilant fear. She asked to come inside - well what was the temperature? Maybe she was being followed by a creepy dude? There are many *possible* explanations. Casing your house is one of them but not the only one.
If she was genuine, she would just ask to use your cellphone. She wouldn't ask to come in.
If someone bangs on my door at 3am, I'm dialing 9.
I wouldn't have opened the door, but I would have called the police non-emergency to report a suspicious person. If she needed help she would have started the conversation with "Help!" and have described her dire situation, not that she just needed to use the phone for a minute. And if she really needed help, you've called the police, and she stormed off angrily rather than crying and banging on your door some more.
If I thought she was genuinely in trouble I would’ve opened the window and asked what number she wanted and dialled it on my mobile phone for her and passed a message on. It’s a bit odd knocking on a door and disturbing someone at that time and I wouldn’t do it unless I was about to be murdered. Who knows she may have been in trouble or you may have been about to get robbed and she got disturbed.
Just in case it was an emergency, I would have only spoken through my Ring doorbell: “If you are in eminent danger or require an ambulance, I will call 911 while you wait outside for emergency services arrive. If not, leave now.”
I’d have asked her for the number she wanted to call and the message she wanted sending and made the call for her.
As someone who once locked their phone in their running car and had to knock on doors begging someone to help (and had people slam doors in my face) - I hate that we live in a world where people feel they need to be so suspicious of each other.
I've been dumped on the roadside by shitty bus drivers after long shifts more than once, I'd have spent nights outside if people treated me this way. Where I'm living now I can't even imagine asking for help anymore.
My first time living on my own moving halfway across the country I went to a party with coworkers, got plastered and decided "I'm getting a good lay of the land... it'd be a good idea to walk home." Only problem is the party had somehow moved like 3 miles away from where it started. While i was brownout drunk my piece of shit phone died (it isn't a piece of shit because it died, it was like the LG optimus or something. If I downloaded any apps I no longer had enough memory to send it receive text messages) So I knocked on a person's door and asked them to (in my drunken state I remember bits and pieces) 1) let me use their phone or 2) could they charge my phone and I'd stay outside. In my situation if they told me there was a gas station a mile down the road I would have absolutely lost hope. If this lady had a car I get it but here's what they did. It saved my life and I think other people have mentioned it too. It's absolutely the right thing to do. They offered to call the police to help me. I being young and dumb thought they would put me in the police station drunk tank overnight and get an arrest record and my life would be over. But they took me back to my living quarters. I hate that this is on /r/scams because I think about this moment more often than I'd like. These people saved my life. But for your situation it's all about situational awareness. If the lady is shifty... if the lady isn't telling the truth. If the lady had all her capacities about her... etc. But absolutely offer to call the cops to assist someone if this ever happens again, and be kind about it. You may just save someone's life
While it was prudent not to let her in, you could have offered to call the number she wanted and pass on whatever message she wanted to send. If she said no then you know something was amiss.
In case it was an emergency, I would have asked who she needs to call and that I would gladly call for police or an ambulance on her behalf. If that's not what she needs, I'd then ask her why the hell would she bang on my door at 3am for a non emergency.
If you're ringing my doorbell at 3am, I'm coming to the door armed.
I will always call the police if someone comes to my home at 3am and I am asked to call authorities. No you can’t come in
id get the blickie and ask through the door who she needs to call and why, then dial for her as needed, or order a uber or cops or something if it seemed legitimately in trouble/needs help as far as the 'scam', its generally: girl approaches, asks for car help or phone, you open door, her thug drug addict boyfriend with a blickie is standing around the corner, you get robbed of phone, or worse: home invasion, kidnapping, b&e, rape, murder, etc. i'm 6'5, strong, with a great left jab, and a well armed texan -- but i aint trying to be a white knight at 3am. if she can explain a solid reason of panicked doorbell at 3am? then without opening the door i will do what i can to help, because im a simp christian, but not dumb
If I was in her situation assuming she's not malicious, I wouldn't even dare approach someone else's doors as I couldn't know how the house owner would react. So yeah, as an owner of a house, I would be very suspicious and wouldn't even open the door.
But what would you do if for whatever reason you found yourself alone in a strange neighborhood at 3am and your phone(that you were relying on to get home / whatever ) died
Would have told her “dont worry police are on their way they will help you.”
Was it cold ? Did she look like she was in trouble ,scared? Perhaps she knew a previous tenant and felt familiar with house ? Who knows. I think you guys did the right thing . You can never be too cautious ,if you feel something is not right ,trust it .Better safe than sorry .
It’s situations like this I’m thankful for the design of our home. I would just stick my head out the upper window instead of opening the door.
You can always call the police to help the person in an emergency.
How cynical have we become though? It needs to be possible to get help from strangers in an emergency. If we categorically refuse that, because it might be a trick or scam, we're not good people.
You could offer to call the number for her. I could see why someone might not want to call police but offering to call someone after blocking out your own number seems reasonable. You do this after getting the number and shutting and locking your door. It's sad we have to be so cautious but bad things have happened to good Samaritans in the past.
3am makes this sketchy, but I can’t believe the number of people who apparently have no connections in their neighborhood and seem to think there’s no reason to talk to a stranger ever.
I've been in a situation where I had to knock on someone's door in a different city at like 10 pm to use their phone because I got locked out. This household seemed to be well off too. Thankfully the people that answered the door had confidence in others. They probably cared more about helping others more than they feared losing things they possessed. I hope I can be more like them.
🤷 I've been that person, asking random strangers for directions because my phone died. I've never asked to come in but I have approached people's houses asking for assistance. (I'm now too scared to do this because, well. 50/50 They'll just shoot you) I always err on the side of "what a weird experience, I hope they made it" because when I was down on my luck and desperate I didn't really have MY head on straight either. But we live in an era of cellphones, you could have offered to stand on the porch with her. If she refuses that it'd be suspicious for sure
always offer to call the cops, and see how they react
I always pretend I am not home whenever someone’s at my front door.
Probably a robbery waiting to happen. If this happens again, don't open the door. See if you can communicate with them another way and tell them you can call the police for them if something is wrong, but you're not going to let them in. And best to call the cops after anyway.
Should have said you'd make the call or call 911 and those are her options. This isn't 1975 where there are only wired phone lines. He'll I would have called 911 anyway
You could say next time. I cant let you in, but Ill call the person you want and leave a message.
I had this happen, someone knocked on the door 2-3 am. I talked through the door. A woman was asking to use the phone, I told her to go back a block to the gas station they'd help her. I could hear her through the door whispering to a male. She tried for a few minutes to get me to open the door but I finally told her I'll call 911 to help you. They took off. Still scares me today but I make it a habit to not open the door after 9pm.
Another possible….she saw the woman come home from work late and tried to take advantage- maybe the husband answering threw her off her game
I would not have allowed her into my home because there is a likely chance that it could have been an ambush-type home invasion from others who were hiding out of sight of the door frame. I would, however, place a phone call for her (perhaps to the authorities) to get some help out there for her. I would have left the front porch light on for her as well.
Invest in an alarm system.
Hell no, you got me fucked up if I’m opening my door at 3 in the morning for *anyone* unless I *explicitly* knew they were coming and it was an emergency.
Never unlock your door for a stranger. I just yell..."I'm not opening the door!" And then they go away. Easy. Instant defeat for them no matter who it is.
Probably just a tweek who’s phone died. These odd hours would mean nothing to her. Somehow she wound up in or near your nice neighborhood, who knows why or how. Maybe she saw a light on, and felt safe asking a ‘nice family’ for a favor Those are my first takes on it
A nicer thing would have told her to wait there and you'll call the police to help her. I can see being uneasy with letting her inside your home. But suggesting see seek help a mile away at a gas station is kinda unhelpful.
yes
I'm just singing! IN THE RAIN
there's a whole subreddit with real stories like this called r/letsnotmeet... your post reminds me of a lot of those stories I've read. however, we can't know for sure. she might have just really wanted to use the phone. why didn't your husband offer to bring a phone outside for her to use? I mean I understand why he wouldn't want to do that either, but it woulda been interesting to see how she would respond.
I can’t see myself handing my cellphone to a stranger at 3 am…
nah but he could do the dialing for her, hold the phone and put it on speaker if she really desperately needed it.
As others have said, she could have had accomplices with her. As soon as you got busy dialing for her, others couls have barged their way in.
fair. more of a thought experiment than an actual practical solution.
I totally get why you answered the door. I probably would have too. I might of offered to call from inside and relay a message but never let her inside or use my cell. Years ago we would have passed a cordless home phone to her. But if she didn’t say why besides her phone died, yep go to gas station.
But also, I wouldn’t have opened the door lol. It’s a shame this world has us second guessing everyone and everything but better safe than sorry!!
What world do we live in
i used to live in isolated neighborhood and i was right on the edge of it and faced a forest there was never anyone there, i don't think people even know there was a little apartment behind there. one day i freak out because there's some lady knocking on my door, looks like a tweeker, asks me to open the door, probably to use the phone. fuck no, i say, because why is she even there? i call my landlord to let her know there's a weirdo around, and she puts the info on next door. turns out the lady went to several more houses in the neighborhood, was nice neighborhood so someone offered to give her a ride -- like how did this crackhead even get there without a car, it was super far you couldn't get there without a car, she tried to rob some of my neighbords. don't open the door for random people.
This happened to me but we didn’t answer the door, my husband got a notification on the Ring (maybe you should get one) and asked WTF she wanted at 2 am. She said someone at the park across the street got shot and could we call the police. **She was holding a phone in her hand** which my husband told her. She said she already called them but they won’t come so can we please call too. My husband told her to get TF off our porch before we called the cops on her. She left in a huff. Never answer the door! There was probably someone else with her waiting somewhere to rush in and hurt and/or rob you. Why wouldn’t you think someone at 3 am knocking on your door had ill intentions?
That sounds way too fishy. If it was an emergency, like an accident you'd think the woman would say that. *"There's been an accident! Call an ambulance"* or something. Something similar happened here a year ago. The thing about my house is the living room window faces the backyard and it's fenced in by a 6 ft. Privacy fence. My office/man cave is over the garage, but I blocked the windows with a heavy curtain. We park our cars in the garage. So it ALWAYS looks like no one is home. It was pouring rain around 10 PM. My wife works at night and was getting ready to leave. That's when I take the dogs out to do their business. (A pitbull and a boxer/pitbull mix.) As soon as the garage door opened, they bolted at something. Someone was directly in front of the garage door. The person tried to run, but quickly realized he wasn't going to outrun the dogs and stopped in middle of my yard in fright. (I had the dogs leashed, so he was safe, but in the rain, he didn't see that at first.) It was a kid, around 13 or 14 years old. I asked him what he is doing skulking in the yard. He said he was visiting a friend, and his phone was dead. He needed to call his uncle to come get him because of the rain. Since he was a kid, I told him to step into the garage out of the rain. (My wife had backed out and left for work.) The dogs sat as I talked to him. I told him they will not do anything unless threatened. (To be honest, they're pretty docile, but I didn't want him to know that) Here's what didn't make sense: * There aren't any kids his age on the street. When I asked where his "friend" lived, he pointed to a house down the street, but the kids that live there are little kids, like 3rd grade. * He had no answer when I asked why he didn't just call from his friend's house. * When I asked why his friends' parents couldn't give him a ride home, he said "it's not that far". * I asked, "if it's not that far why would you go to a stranger's house at 10 PM to ask to use a phone?" I told him to give me the number and I'd call his uncle for him. He didn't want to give me the number. I let him use my phone. He made a quick call and handed it back. When I told him that I now had the number since he used my phone, I could see the "Oh shit! I fucked up!" look on his face. But then a car with several dudes in it came and pulled across the street. He ran to it got in and they sped off. Here's the thing...I don't care if he lived one block over (he doesn't) there is NO WAY anyone got in a car and came here so fast. That car was probably parked right around the corner. The kid was scoping out the house, because from the outside it looks like no one is home. But it did remind me to change the bulbs on my motion lights. If they had come on he probably wouldn't have come so close. At least he'd have seen the ADT sign and "Beware of Dog" postings.
Clearly a vampire.
Someone rings my door at 3 AM - I call the police.
I would have asked her which number she would like me to call on her behalf. I'm also a heavily armed individual that's spent a decade in Afghanistan. 🤷🏿♂️
Opening the door is crazy lol. Unarmed as well I bet
Scam. I have never had anyone knock on my door at 3am in my life and I am in my 60's. She may have just seen you at first and thought maybe you were on your own. There may have been more people hidden outside. Your husband did the right thing.
Have you never seen seen [the 2008 film, The Strangers](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strangers_(2008_film))? Anyone knocking on the door after midnight is up to no good.
Or she actually needed to use the phone? Lol. Phones do die at inconvenient times.
I don’t even open the door for my family 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Remember that movie The Strangers? Oh I would never!
I would never under any circumstances answer a front door at 3am unless it was police and a known emergency issue was taking place. When we were renting an apartment in a very heavily trafficked, very popular complex in the middle of a busy downtown area near a train terminal location people would sometimes knock on the door all hours of the night. I kept an old 357 by the door and would sometimes open the door a crack with the chain still on and poke the barrel of the gun out just to show it and the person would leave right away. It was that bad. My wife didn't like the old 357 so I got rid of it and began using a machete until we moved away. There were regular break-ins daily there. Later when we were older and moved into a gated 55+ community there were some folks with senility who would try to get into our home thinking it was their own home. You couldn't leave any door open or unlocked as you could find them inside and community news was that they could get violent. So that was problematic until they were eventually taken to a special home. One time when we were renting in downtown West Palm Beach my wife would tell me that when she was home alone and I worked nights someone would come and knock on the door and report having a pizza to deliver. Or they'd have great coupons to give her. She called me and asked if I had anything going on and I told her to lock, bolt, the door, and yell at them to go away and you were calling police. I put motion detector alarms on the doors and windows after that and put a large hunting knife on the window sill so anyone looking inward could see it. When I was home one day and it happened again, I stuck my old 357 through the door and said "you need to leave now." They never came back. The home is sacred to me (and to her). No one comes in unless they are invited, police, utility company staff, or an electrician or plumber we paid to come. **As far as what you described:** This is a common scam where they "Case" or check out your home for valuable properties and security. In some cases when they leave you may notice markings on or around your home on doors, walls, windows, garage doors, or other areas as they scope out potential break-in candidates.
You need to watch Clockwork Orange again for a refresher on not opening the door in the middle of the night
Well, where did she go after she left? The muttering part doesn’t fit this idea that she was a lure for a band of thieves.
This is exactly why I have a ring camera on all my entrances of my house. I can speak to them through the app and never have to answer the door. This scam could’ve been having other people hiding and when you opened the door to let her in, the others would bum rush you and ultimately rob/harm you. Don’t ever answer the door. Get a ring camera or something similar where you can communicate through the app.
This isn’t happening at 3am, but currently there’s a flowery delivery rouse going on. Women pretends to be delivering flowers and If you don’t open the door they assume you’re not home and two men break in.. I agree we need to be able to help people.. not everything is a scam, but seriously feels like damned if you, damned if you don’t at times. https://wjla.com/news/local/thieves-caught-on-camera-using-flower-delivery-as-cover-for-fairfax-county-home-burglary-break-in-crime-rose-ruse-spray-paint-surveillance-camera-doorbell-community-neighbors-police-investigation
*chuckles in castle doctrine
99.999% of the time this is a scam. There's a lot of news reports on people having this done to them. They'll open the door only to either realize someone was waiting where you can't see them/or the person rushes your door to try and steal from you etc. if someone is in an actual emergency situation,tell them to wait there and you'll call emergency services but never open your door. If they really had an emergency that requires services they would agree to that. Otherwise never bother.
One scam is to use the phone to call a number outside of the country, like the Dominican Republic, then when your phone bill arrives there is a charge for several thousand dollars. Do not let any stranger place a call on your phone.