In June 2021, I received a letter from the Notary, informing me about the execution of the will of my great aunt (the sister of my grandmother). She passed away at the beginning of 2021 at the respective age of 90 years. Because both my grandmother and my mother are not alive anymore, my brother and sister and I were next in line as heirs to her will together with a long list of other family members.
The will indicated that my aunt wanted to provide a significant part of her remaining funds to the National Heart Foundation and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Fund. This fixed amount was set in stone and fully pledged to both foundations. The funds were on her savings account which she never touched. So far so good.
However, in the execution letter, I received it appeared that the pledged amount could not be fully paid to both foundations because of a doorstep crime of which my great aunt was a victim in 2018. A doorstep crime is always supported with a “chat trick” to enter someone’s home. By reading this I immediately remembered the same trick was done to my grandmother in early 2000. Back then she was living by herself and she was close to moving into a retirement home because of the beginning symptoms of Alzheimer. Two aged sisters victim of the same trick? I wondered if this was just a coincidence or if this “trick” happened more frequently than I thought. After some research, I found out that 1 out of 4 elder people in my country (the Netherlands) are a victim of a doorstep crime. It is hardly in the news because most victims do not report the crime. The reason for this is that people feel ashamed that they fell for this kind of “simple” trick. This leads to my assumption that the actual rate this happens is far higher than 25%.
But what exactly is a “doorstep crime”? A doorstep crime is a form of social engineering in which scammers try to enter the house of a victim by pretending to be someone else or by making up an excuse. Both are “chat tricks”.
There are a lot of ways to gain someone’s confidence and with this, to gain access to someone’s home and valuables. For example:
- Two “parents” standing at the door, asking if their child can go to the toilet. When the “parents” are inside and the child is on the toilet, one of the “parents” keeps talking to the victim and the other parent is roaming the house for valuables.
- One or two “parents” and their child standing at the door, asking if their child can have an interview with the person that opens the door for a school project on (for instance) elderly people. While the child is interviewing the victim, the parent(s) can search for valuables.
- A scammer, pretending to be a substitute for home help for elderly people (it’s easy for scammers to shadow real home helpers to pick their victims). At the door, the scammer shows a fake ID and tell that the actual home helper is ill. While in the house they are free to roam and obtain valuables. They can also offer to do the shopping that day and ask if they can use the debit or credit card (including the PIN code).
- One or more scammers pretending to be from a utility company, to do the meter reading or telling that there is a gas leak. Again, it’s easier for scammers to do this with more than one person because one person can distract the victim while the other person roams the house.
- Someone who pretends to deliver a parcel and asks for payment as “administrative charges”. This can be done by cash or by payment with a debit or credit card. In addition to the payment by debit or credit card, there is also a risk that the card is “skimmed”. Additionally, a quick “exchange” trick can be done which switches the original card with a fake card. This way the scammer gets both PIN and pass.
- Someone who pretends to collect for charity by showing a fake ID. This can be done both by cash and by debit/credit card. As said in the previous example, a debit/credit card can also additionally being “skimmed”/exchanged during the transaction.
The following actions can prevent people to become a victim of doorstep crime:
- Never open a door immediately. Always check if you know the person that is in front of the door. This can be done by a spyhole, a camera or a door that has a window through which you can see a person.
- Set up passwords/access codes with utility companies. Only official representatives of that company will know what it is and most utility companies can facilitate this option. Also, store the direct telephone numbers of all utility companies on your telephone. You can always call these companies to verify the identity of the person standing in front of your door. Never ask the person standing in front of the door for the telephone number of the utility company. There is a chance that an accomplice will answer the phone and pretends to be a representative of the utility company.
- Tell unexpected visitors that are sent by a utility company that you will make a future appointment yourself. Genuine visitors will happily accept if an appointment was scheduled and you were not aware of this.
- Always arrange for a friend or a family member to be present with you when a visitor from a utility company has an appointment.
- If a suspicious person is at your door and is too persistent/doesn’t want to leave, call the general alarm number of your country. After a scammer leaves, always call the police and report the incident.
- Never pay for a parcel at the door: not in cash and not by debit or credit card.
- Never donate for charity at the door. I know this sounds harsh, but if you want to donate to charity you can also do this by wire transfer to the bank account of the charity. Just tell the collector you will do this instead.
The reason why I wanted to specifically name this form of Social Engineering is that Social Engineering is most of the time exclusively associated with Cybercrime. However, Social Engineering with the support of Tech is only a part of it. The form of doorstep crime happens far more often than people realize. I was not aware that 25% of the elder people (and probably more as already stated) are a victim of this kind of crime. The impact of this kind of crime can be far more intense because it happens face-to-face. I think it leads to even more psychological damage and social isolation of older people because it can increase fear of meeting/engaging people they don’t know. This seriously impacts mental health and general trust in our society.
Feel free to ask me any questions or give me additional tips/advice on social engineering and doorstep crime by contacting me and if you want to keep in the loop when I upload a new post, don’t forget to subscribe to receive a notification by e-mail.
