Houses for sale have emerged as a new target for crooks looking to steal from the families who live in them. They pretend to be potential purchasers in order to gain easy access to residences and commit crimes.
This comes after the Linden police received a case of theft from one of the houses in President Ridge where the house was on show.
Linden Police Station communication officer Sergeant Takalani Sibiya said, “The complainant alleged that two females requested to view the house as it was up for sale. They also told her that they were sent by the agent. They let them in and also helped them to tour inside the house. On the same day the complainant’s granddaughter came back from school, and found out that her laptop and the Grey Mases iPad were stolen.”\
The Linden police issue the following safety tips to equip yourself when hosting show houses or property.
- Never allow anyone in your property without asking questions to get to know the person and where they are coming from.
- If possible, only allow viewers with invitation appointments with the agent only.
- Record the names and ID numbers of every person who visited your property
- Lock away all valuable and personal items.
- Always be vigilant during the showing.
- Always close and lock the doors behind you.
- Always make sure that you walk behind the people viewing the house.
- Do not allow the viewers to enter the rooms alone.
- Have some knowledge of self-defence tools, such as pepper spray and taser.
She added that houses at an estate agent are good to sell or buy a property, it also boosts the buyer and makes it easy to find the best property a person is looking for.
“Unfortunately, this comes with some level of security risk and both the seller and the agent need to be extra vigilant when hosting
walk-ins to the property.”
Related Article:
Linden police take a step in building a relationship with the youth
