BLUE Security has warned business owners and residents to be vigilant when opening up their premises to let contractors onto the property.
The warning follows an incident in Overport on 8 March, when a suspect managed to sneak into a business premises with a team of satellite television contractors, and steal a cellphone at around 11.40am.
Blue Security community and media liaison officer Andreas Mathios said the suspect had entered the building and walked to the back of the premises where he grabbed the phone.
“The suspect entered the restroom and turned the taps on full, which caused staff members to check what was going on in the restroom. The suspect managed to slip out of the restroom and then walked into a nearby office from where he stole a cellphone,” Mathios said.
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Mathios said staff realised how the suspect had gained entry when they later viewed the CCTV surveillance camera footage that showed the suspect walking onto the premises at the same time as the contractors.
Mathios advised business owners and residents to be alert when letting contractors onto the premises. He said the firm had received several reports where criminals had managed to walk into small offices pretending to be customers and then walking out with cellphones and other valuables left lying around.
“Before opening up the premises for contractors it is important to make sure, firstly, that the visitors are bonafide contractors who have arrived to do work on site and that they are not imposters. It’s a good idea for businesses to keep a visitors’ book and to get everyone who enters the office to sign in before allowing them access to work on site. This will at least hopefully act as a deterrent to opportunistic criminals who may seek to slip in and see what they can steal from the office,” Mathios said.
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