Way too much excitement this AM

M1911 · June 10, 2002, 07:31 PM

I was sound asleep this 12:30 AM when I woke up, thinking I'd heard the front doorbell. I wasn't sure that I'd actually heard the doorbell, as I had woken from a sound sleep. So I lay in bed, and sure enough, heard the doorbell again, loud and clear.

We live in a bedroom suburb of Boston and retire early, so this was unusual. Mrs. M1911 was still basically comatose, so I grabbed my spare mag, stuffed it in the pocket of my pajama tops, grabbed my Kimber Compact in my right hand and flashlight in my left. About this time, I hear a knock on the front door.

I walked to my preplanned spot, at a corner of a wall about 5 feet from the front door. We have 2 small glass panels at the top of the front door, and we leave the stoop light on all night. There was no one to be seen. So I turn on the flashlight, aim it at the door, and say "What do you want?" I kept the gun behind me, pointed at the floor, so no one could see it.

No answer. I wait a minute. I yell lounder "What do you want?" Then I hear a response "XX Police Department." Being the suspicous sort, I then walk around the hallway to approach the door from a different angle, and peak out the glass panels, and sure enough, it is a uniformed officer. Just as I was being Teddy Tactical, he was no dummy either and wasn't standing in front of the door.

I yell "just a minute" and walk back to my office to lock up the hardware.

I opened the door to speak with the 2 police officers. It seems that the YY Police Dept. had picked up 3 gang members and they had a piece of paper on them that had the name of Joe XYZ (XYZ being my wife's maiden name), our address, phone number, a date of birth, SSN, and pin number. YY Police Dept. had called and not gotten an answer (we slept through it and never heard the call), so they had XX PD come by to check on our well being.

Sure enough, today I got a bill addressed to Mr. Joe XYZ from a cell phone company. The SSN they were using was not mine or my wifes, but it does look like some identity/credit fraud is in the works.

I'm glad both departments were concerned enough to check up on our well being. But I definitely lost some sleep over this one.

One major lesson learned -- my plan didn't include what I should do when I can't see someone at the door. I should have woken Mrs. M1911 at that point and had her dial 911. They would have told me it was them at the door, and we might have had a bit less excitement.

M1911

mpthole · June 10, 2002, 08:09 PM

Sounds like you handled it well. Glad to hear that everyone's safe at least... too bad about the identity theft.

KSFreeman · June 10, 2002, 08:17 PM

Glad everyone is O.K. Still shook up? Sounds like you were ready.

I would have awoken my pardner. I like lots of people on my team and need to watch the flanks and back. Good thinking yelling through the front door; I saw many people just throw the door open at 3AM.

Good to know that fancy edjumakashun paid off and you knew enough not to just start shooting through the door like the Internet tells you to.

M1911 · June 10, 2002, 08:31 PM

Quote:

I would have awoken my pardner. I like lots of people on my team and need to watch the flanks and back. Good thinking yelling through the front door; I saw many people just throw the door open at 3AM.

Good point about waking up the Mrs. I'll remember that.

Long ago I decided that I don't open the door to someone I don't know, especially at 0-dark-30. I can hear them through the door and don't give a hoot about not being polite.

The scary part is that 3 drug gang members (one of whom was carrying, and I greatly doubt he has a CCW permit) had our address and phone number.

Any suggestions for a home alarm company? Time to get off the stick and get one installed.

M1911

Pendragon · June 10, 2002, 08:44 PM

Why did you lock your gun up?

Could have been a fake cop.

I woud have concealed it for the moment until ID was presented.

C.R.Sam · June 10, 2002, 09:00 PM

Pendragon......excellant point.

Sam

flinch_of_gt · June 10, 2002, 09:44 PM

To make sure he's a real po-po, tell him to have the dispatcher call your house again.

Spackler · June 10, 2002, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Why did you lock your gun up? Could have been a fake cop.

Good point. I would only open up if I looked out the window and saw a borough or state police cruiser and an officer or two in the proper uniform. Somebody may be able to fake up a uniform, but they'd have to be pretty resourceful (or very determined) to steal or fake-up a city or state car.

El Rojo · June 11, 2002, 12:08 AM

Yeah I don't think I would have locked it up either. You still handled the situation very well.

Vladimir_Berkov · June 11, 2002, 01:46 AM

If the cops come to my house in the middle of the night, they better not be upset with the pistol on my hip. Mainly because there is absolutely nothing they can do about it.

Ed Brunner · June 11, 2002, 01:56 AM

In a perfect world you would get no argument on that.

citizen · June 11, 2002, 03:10 AM

WOW!! They actually came and checked on you?????

I'm impressed!

M1911 · June 11, 2002, 07:05 AM

Pendragon said:

Quote:

Why did you lock your gun up?

Could have been a fake cop.

I woud have concealed it for the moment until ID was presented.

1) the two marked cruisers at the top of the driveway gave me a pretty good hint that they were, in fact, police.

2) hard to conceal a .45 when you're only wearing pajamas.

M1911

KSFreeman · June 11, 2002, 07:35 AM

Good `tude and reaction. That will help far more than any magic sword.

Yeah, put the pistola away. You're making the po-po nervous and the prosecutor will take their side. Remember me relating the story about the newbie pistol packer and the traffic stop here? Put it away (the cop at the door won't be the 23 year veteran who knows not to shoot you).

USP45 · June 11, 2002, 08:55 AM

Glad to see you are ok.

~USP

M1911 · June 11, 2002, 09:06 AM

Citizen said:

Quote:

WOW!! They actually came and checked on you?????

Yup, they did. The Sgt. in city YY who arrested the scum bags thought something was wrong when he saw the address on the back of an envelope in their car. The town we live in, town XX, is an expensive bedroom suburb and these folks were not of the social strata normally found in our town. What I think particularly worried them was that the envelope had what looked like a bank pin number on it. When the called and got no answer (we slept through the call), I think they were concerned that possibly these 3 had used violence to extract the pin number, so they asked the police in town XX to check on our well being. We're in a small bedroom suburb, with excellent police protection, so they sent a couple units to check on us. I do think that I need to send a thank you note to both departments.

M1911

FPrice · June 11, 2002, 09:11 AM

"I do think that I need to send a thank you note to both departments."

Probably a VERY good idea. Police hear from too many people with complaints; I am sure that like everyone else they enjoy getting a sincere thank you now and then.

My thanks also for posting this. It helps to listen to someone who has been through such a situation and see how they handled it.

Kentucky Rifle · June 11, 2002, 09:31 AM

When we got a late night visit from the Police, I put a snubby in the pocket of my robe when the bell rang. But just in case, my wife sprang to the end of the dark hall with her double barrel 12 ga. and cell phone. For a middle-aged woman, she moves really fast. A punk had stolen her license sticker, right off her car. I have NO idea how he got it off without breaking it. He had gotten drunk later that night and had started driving around the Moore High School running track and, naturally the Cops objected.

KR

treeprof · June 11, 2002, 11:48 AM

M1911 - What steps have you taken re addressing the identify theft? There is nothing worse to have stolen.

El Rojo · June 11, 2002, 12:31 PM

When I was going through the background check for my current job, the personel department informed me that they found evidence that someone might have been using my identity. I was naturally concerned. I re-ordered my credit report online and did not notice anything new or unusual. I went by the Social Security Office and they didn't notice anything unusual. So I pretty much lucked out. I figure someone else must have got arrested and used my SS# somehow. I went ahead and reported a fraud alert to the three major credit agencies anyway. Now no one will give me credit unless they get a hold of me first. It is a good idea to do because the only thing you are going to lose out on is getting instant credit somewhere. Big deal.

'01 GSR · June 11, 2002, 12:58 PM

Score your stickers w/ a razor blade after application.

That way, all they get is chunks of the sticker for their trouble.

Mute · June 11, 2002, 01:55 PM

Better run a credit report and make sure there aren't any items you and the wife don't recognize. Get a copy of the police report as proof that you aren't responsible for anything you didn't agree to.

M1911 · June 11, 2002, 02:36 PM

treeprof:

The name they were using is not mine nor my wife's, though it does have the same last name as my wife. The SSN they are using is not mine nor my wife's. The birthdate they are using is not mine nor my wife's. We ran a credit report for each of us last night and we can account for all of the entries.

What they are using is our address and phone number. So I think a creditor is going to have a hard time trying to make us the responsible party.

Good idea to get a copy of the police reports.

Jared

Bog · June 11, 2002, 03:28 PM

Rule one: Change everything - phone number, credcard numbers etc.

At a guess, I'd say You've Been Trashed.

This is the old hackish practice of scrounging through the rubbish to find all these numbers. It's relatively easy to construct a fake ID this way.

It's doubtful that lightning will strike twice, but better safe than sorry.

Invoice for 0.02 in the post.

treeprof · June 11, 2002, 04:13 PM

That's good to hear your names and SSN's are not involved. I'd still contact the post office and phone company if you haven't already.

We had our birth certificates stolen 2 yrs ago and went thru a lot of hassle, tho we are in the clear to date.

June 10, 2002, 07:31 PM	#1
M1911 Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2000 Posts: 4,055	Way too much excitement this AM I was sound asleep this 12:30 AM when I woke up, thinking I'd heard the front doorbell. I wasn't sure that I'd actually heard the doorbell, as I had woken from a sound sleep. So I lay in bed, and sure enough, heard the doorbell again, loud and clear. We live in a bedroom suburb of Boston and retire early, so this was unusual. Mrs. M1911 was still basically comatose, so I grabbed my spare mag, stuffed it in the pocket of my pajama tops, grabbed my Kimber Compact in my right hand and flashlight in my left. About this time, I hear a knock on the front door. I walked to my preplanned spot, at a corner of a wall about 5 feet from the front door. We have 2 small glass panels at the top of the front door, and we leave the stoop light on all night. There was no one to be seen. So I turn on the flashlight, aim it at the door, and say "What do you want?" I kept the gun behind me, pointed at the floor, so no one could see it. No answer. I wait a minute. I yell lounder "What do you want?" Then I hear a response "XX Police Department." Being the suspicous sort, I then walk around the hallway to approach the door from a different angle, and peak out the glass panels, and sure enough, it is a uniformed officer. Just as I was being Teddy Tactical, he was no dummy either and wasn't standing in front of the door. I yell "just a minute" and walk back to my office to lock up the hardware. I opened the door to speak with the 2 police officers. It seems that the YY Police Dept. had picked up 3 gang members and they had a piece of paper on them that had the name of Joe XYZ (XYZ being my wife's maiden name), our address, phone number, a date of birth, SSN, and pin number. YY Police Dept. had called and not gotten an answer (we slept through it and never heard the call), so they had XX PD come by to check on our well being. Sure enough, today I got a bill addressed to Mr. Joe XYZ from a cell phone company. The SSN they were using was not mine or my wifes, but it does look like some identity/credit fraud is in the works. I'm glad both departments were concerned enough to check up on our well being. But I definitely lost some sleep over this one. One major lesson learned -- my plan didn't include what I should do when I can't see someone at the door. I should have woken Mrs. M1911 at that point and had her dial 911. They would have told me it was them at the door, and we might have had a bit less excitement. M1911

June 10, 2002, 08:17 PM	#3
KSFreeman Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2001 Location: Lafayette, Indiana--American-occupied America Posts: 5,418	Glad everyone is O.K. Still shook up? Sounds like you were ready. I would have awoken my pardner. I like lots of people on my team and need to watch the flanks and back. Good thinking yelling through the front door; I saw many people just throw the door open at 3AM. Good to know that fancy edjumakashun paid off and you knew enough not to just start shooting through the door like the Internet tells you to. __________________ "Arguments of policy must give way to a constitutional command." Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 602 (1980).

June 10, 2002, 09:44 PM	#7
flinch_of_gt Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 2001 Location: Snow Bunny Country Posts: 371	To make sure he's a real po-po, tell him to have the dispatcher call your house again. __________________ "If Plan A is taking multiple .308 hits to the back, I suggest a Plan B."

June 11, 2002, 12:08 AM	#9
El Rojo Senior Member Join Date: February 4, 2000 Location: People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 2,057	Yeah I don't think I would have locked it up either. You still handled the situation very well. __________________ Get Some!

June 11, 2002, 01:56 AM	#11
Ed Brunner Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 1998 Location: Natchez, MS, USA Posts: 2,562	Mr. Berkov In a perfect world you would get no argument on that. __________________ MOLON LABE UNTIL IT'S OVER! Ed

June 10, 2002, 08:09 PM	#2
mpthole Senior Member Join Date: February 6, 2001 Location: SW WI Posts: 462	Sounds like you handled it well. Glad to hear that everyone's safe at least... too bad about the identity theft.

June 10, 2002, 08:44 PM	#5
Pendragon Senior Member Join Date: August 10, 2001 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 1,153	Why did you lock your gun up? Could have been a fake cop. I woud have concealed it for the moment until ID was presented.

June 10, 2002, 09:00 PM	#6
C.R.Sam Senior Member Join Date: October 29, 1999 Location: Dewey, AZ Posts: 12,858	Pendragon......excellant point. Sam

June 11, 2002, 01:46 AM	#10
Vladimir_Berkov Senior Member Join Date: September 1, 2001 Posts: 378	If the cops come to my house in the middle of the night, they better not be upset with the pistol on my hip. Mainly because there is absolutely nothing they can do about it.

June 11, 2002, 03:10 AM	#12
citizen Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2000 Posts: 796	WOW!! They actually came and checked on you????? I'm impressed! __________________ ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM NRA, GOA, AOC Ignorance can be cured, Stupid is forever Life is too short for dial-up

June 11, 2002, 07:35 AM	#14
KSFreeman Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2001 Location: Lafayette, Indiana--American-occupied America Posts: 5,418	Good `tude and reaction. That will help far more than any magic sword. Yeah, put the pistola away. You're making the po-po nervous and the prosecutor will take their side. Remember me relating the story about the newbie pistol packer and the traffic stop here? Put it away (the cop at the door won't be the 23 year veteran who knows not to shoot you). __________________ "Arguments of policy must give way to a constitutional command." Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 602 (1980).

June 11, 2002, 08:55 AM	#15
USP45 Senior Member Join Date: March 22, 2000 Location: Peoples Commonwealth of Massachusetts Posts: 1,562	Glad to see you are ok. ~USP

June 11, 2002, 09:11 AM	#17
FPrice Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2000 Location: People's Commonwealth of Massachusetts Posts: 1,456	"I do think that I need to send a thank you note to both departments." Probably a VERY good idea. Police hear from too many people with complaints; I am sure that like everyone else they enjoy getting a sincere thank you now and then. My thanks also for posting this. It helps to listen to someone who has been through such a situation and see how they handled it. __________________ Frosty Price "No matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Banzai

June 11, 2002, 09:31 AM	#18
Kentucky Rifle Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 1999 Location: Louisville, Kentucky Posts: 2,687	We've never even formulated a plan... When we got a late night visit from the Police, I put a snubby in the pocket of my robe when the bell rang. But just in case, my wife sprang to the end of the dark hall with her double barrel 12 ga. and cell phone. For a middle-aged woman, she moves really fast. A punk had stolen her license sticker, right off her car. I have NO idea how he got it off without breaking it. He had gotten drunk later that night and had started driving around the Moore High School running track and, naturally the Cops objected. KR

June 11, 2002, 11:48 AM	#19
treeprof Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 2000 Posts: 587	M1911 - What steps have you taken re addressing the identify theft? There is nothing worse to have stolen.

June 11, 2002, 12:31 PM	#20
El Rojo Senior Member Join Date: February 4, 2000 Location: People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 2,057	When I was going through the background check for my current job, the personel department informed me that they found evidence that someone might have been using my identity. I was naturally concerned. I re-ordered my credit report online and did not notice anything new or unusual. I went by the Social Security Office and they didn't notice anything unusual. So I pretty much lucked out. I figure someone else must have got arrested and used my SS# somehow. I went ahead and reported a fraud alert to the three major credit agencies anyway. Now no one will give me credit unless they get a hold of me first. It is a good idea to do because the only thing you are going to lose out on is getting instant credit somewhere. Big deal. __________________ Get Some!

June 11, 2002, 12:58 PM	#21
'01 GSR Senior Member Join Date: April 16, 2002 Posts: 168	Score your stickers w/ a razor blade after application. That way, all they get is chunks of the sticker for their trouble.

June 11, 2002, 01:55 PM	#22
Mute Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 1998 Location: Diamond Bar, CA Posts: 852	Better run a credit report and make sure there aren't any items you and the wife don't recognize. Get a copy of the police report as proof that you aren't responsible for anything you didn't agree to.

June 11, 2002, 02:36 PM	#23
M1911 Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2000 Posts: 4,055	treeprof: The name they were using is not mine nor my wife's, though it does have the same last name as my wife. The SSN they are using is not mine nor my wife's. The birthdate they are using is not mine nor my wife's. We ran a credit report for each of us last night and we can account for all of the entries. What they are using is our address and phone number. So I think a creditor is going to have a hard time trying to make us the responsible party. Good idea to get a copy of the police reports. Jared

June 11, 2002, 03:28 PM	#24
Bog Senior Member Join Date: March 16, 2002 Location: England. Where Great Britain used to be. Posts: 775	M1911 Rule one: Change everything - phone number, credcard numbers etc. At a guess, I'd say You've Been Trashed. This is the old hackish practice of scrounging through the rubbish to find all these numbers. It's relatively easy to construct a fake ID this way. It's doubtful that lightning will strike twice, but better safe than sorry. Invoice for 0.02 in the post. __________________ Venetian Blinds: Sunlight with Scanlines.

June 11, 2002, 04:13 PM	#25
treeprof Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 2000 Posts: 587	That's good to hear your names and SSN's are not involved. I'd still contact the post office and phone company if you haven't already. We had our birth certificates stolen 2 yrs ago and went thru a lot of hassle, tho we are in the clear to date.