A Mysterious "Official" Visited My Home Today, Questioned Me

a reply to: Raxoxane

I honestly don't know anyone who would go through all that just to answer the door, and answer a simple question... not one... from my youngest brother all the way up to my Great-Granny.

Maybe it's just my family, I don't know... but If someone makes me uncomfortable, won't leave, or wants to ENTER my house, then yeah, I can see all that... or if its the middle of the night, then sure.

But here I go contradicting my best interests again... one wants to be able to relax and have faith in his neighbors, but KNOWS somewhere dark in his nature that he cannot.

It's really an age-old topic for humans, more so now than ever : The Line Between Feeling Secure and Feeling Free

a reply to: Aqualung2012

I am not a survival nit per say



Just know a pound of prevention is worth a ton of cure

It gives you some simple things

If a family member comes over tell them to knock say on the garage door
(their family.. no need to be formal.. Yo kin.. )
Have a clear line of Site available

Your friends play a game of special knocks
(ring tones per say.. I screw with my friends over it and change it every visit)


everyone else well you know by the knock that its not friend or family

That leaves who comes to the door
Cops
delivery men
neighbors

It is a lazy man's defense system
and if you have two doors go out the side door and see them first

At night..
Tell friends to call we dont answer the door after nine pm

Key word was Lazy-
A good neighborhood this will work


I am not offended.. you got my curiosity up

so far
1)government investigator
2)health official
3) private investigator
4)thief

each can be dealt with and eliminated

I just want to know the follow up..

a reply to: ripcontrol

Ohhh man, I can dig what you're saying now.

Lazy-man's system: gotcha.

a reply to: Bone75

no you dont

I call oncor out here to verify they are here and at the house


decking your house out like fort knocks is very suspicious
part of passive security is NOT standing out

If it is a cop whats their reason for being there

I took ten minutes waking up
came outside and made him jump



Keep in mind that the only predator we have is other men
they are the wild card

I intend to outlive you all

Well,then you've just met some-one who Will go to all that trouble.If a total stranger shows up at my door,asking questions about neighbours,or anyone I know,including my own family members-they are going to have to give me proof of who they are+who they're working for-and I Will verify that they are who the say they are,I Will google the name of the agency/company they're supposed to be with-and check out those numbers against the number the person gave me.It's just how things are done,in my book.

I live in South Africa,I may add,one of the most violent and crime-infested countries on the planet,so that plays a part-but really-though i may not like my neighbours,because they're irritating,in my personal case- that does'nt mean I'm gonnna be telling any stranger who comes to my door any of their business and lifestyle+routines.I'm just different from most folks then,I guess.a reply to: Aqualung2012

a reply to: Raxoxane

Well it's nice to meet ya!

I had noticed you live in South Africa, and I'm well aware of the state some of it's areas are in crime-wise. It definitely does spell out quite a different scenario than what I'm accustomed to here in the US.

Regardless: in suburban Chicago, simply locking up doors and windows at bedtime has served us well thus far. That, and keeping eyes/ears open for signs of trouble, utilizing outdoor lighting, and being quite able to defend my own home if necessary is sufficient.

Now move a little closer to the city itself and you need to start employing more of those "survival" techniques haha... no seriously.

I have to fix that last post

GF corrected me

It was the maintenance man who tried to enter the Apartment without the 48 hour notice or her calling


the cop was something else


The key is thinking ahead so you dont have to in a situation (lazy man way)

You have no real valuables is good
insure enough to replace electronics and have copies of old photos not the originals
(Lazy man note on that... not really security more anti fire.. photos original in a fire box allows spouse to go play at a photo center and make scrap books)

I had a good friend whose wife of fifty years passed away
the friends sons wife through a fit because she wanted the jewlery
He had ask if I wanted any and she had interrupted

He let her choose what ever she wanted out of it

After she left smug I found out the truth

Well the real jewlery was in the bank security vault
Diamonds, several rubies, pearls, broaches, and her wedding ring

I think the most he paid for what the friends daughter in law took was an old looking piece of costume jewelry
I thought they had been real and had to stop laughing

The old lady kept none of her real jewelry in the house

the oldest daughter and the daughter in law he liked
kept the jewels in safe deposit boxes to pass on to great grand children

I still laugh about that.. the woman still has no clue to this day it was all costume none of it was real..


I keep responding here because Like I said

I am damn curious
Unless your a superspy

a reply to: ripcontrol

The ol' bait n' switch, gets em every time!

Hay, curious is as curious does, they say. Nah, they don't say that 'tall.

Say, what're we drinkin' this evenin'? Nothin' fer me now, it's time to hit the ol' haystack. See if we cain't holler dat yonder ol' feller in the morn' I reckon.

Night y'all...

This sounds so strange and I agree, it is definitely something you should report to the police.

As for the odd responses she gave you, one phrase caught my attention so I googled it. "health research procedure" (with quotes)

The only results that came up were the posts here and a power point thing for this place bioethics.od.nih.gov... , some agency linked to the National Institute of Health. Not sure if this lady represented this agency in some way, but figured I'd toss it out there for you. It could very well be something to do with Ebola and chasing down potential contacts.

originally posted by: Aqualung2012
a reply to: U4ea82

Yeah, you never can really know. It would all depend on why they are being asked about I guess.

For most purposes my answers were simply general statements, like you said, and wouldn't be of much use... but I can imagine a few that could be not-so-nice as well... it just depends.

Whatever the case, I hope the best for my neighbors.

I really do hope you take the steps to notify your neighbors. You mentioned earlier that you'd try catching them tomorrow morning or afternoon when you had also said the time they were available was after office hours. You could've nipped it in the bud and contacted them this evening since they probably won't be around at the time you said you were going to try and stop by.

I feel Either you are being cased or they are but perhaps you're questions may have been answered if you reached out to them earlier. Maybe they might have opened up and said something along the lines of knowing someone was leaving business cards at their door or calling them to try and reach them...then this case would be closed. If they had no idea why someone would be trying to get in touch with them, then you and they would know to be more alert and this could have given them an opportunity to secure their home while they are away during the day.

I am a little concerned for you and/or them because the person that came to your door appeared non-threatening & professional and didn't cause any alarm or raise red flags for you, but she wouldn't identify herself. I'd say that would be the perfect thing to do is have someone non suspicious looking approach your door and check things out, report back to her cohorts. If she had bad intentions, then that did the trick since you don't seem overly worried and have yet to notify the nearby cops or your neighbors.

I, too, think she could probably be investigating for fraud insurance/disability claims, something along those lines.....but if she wanted to bust them jumping up and down on the roof, then she's risking catching them in approaching you when you can turn around and let the neighbors know that someone in the healthcare field had been trying to get in touch with them.

I hope nothing comes out of all this but that's just too weird!! So better safe than sorry and please, please reach out to those old folks as soon as you can! You just never know...people are very slick and inventive nowadays...there was a string of burglaries in my neighborhood last year and some of us neighbors got to talking and noticed that everyone had phone books thrown in their yards...the phone books had already been distributed and were placed in plastic bags at our doorsteps, not thrown on the lawns. We believed that the thiefs were able to identify which houses were vacant and who knows, maybe they watched what kind of people were picking the books off their lawn and were able to identify which houses they wanted to break in this way....who knows, but I, just like you hardly talk to my neighbors and had no clue that homes were being broken into! I don't have a security system but placed a security sign in my lawn just as a precaution...but good luck and stay vigilant for the next few days and definitely keep us posted!

Nice to meet you too:-) yes one has to have situational awareness in my country,and just generally keep your wits about you-it's not like living in an actual warzone,but our murder rates per annum are as high,if not higher,if I recall correctly-than the death count in most active warzones.Been like that for 20 years now.
So one knows to be sensible+just not too trusting.Especially when it comes to strangers.We live out in the African Bush,so I'm lucky that way.I have'nt lived in a city for almost 12 years and never will again.

Well I'm not a paranoid hermit,in case it sounded like that,but yeah I just have a strong sense of boundaries.And what I will put up with,when it comes to other people-especially total strangers/agency/snooping/suspicious types.So if they come to my house basically asking me for a favor,in the case of this thread, info,whatever their end goal is with that info,they're gonna have to accomodate Me and not the other way around.

A nice day to you:-)

a reply to: Aqualung2012

Years ago i was working a mine and the owner was having problem with this con artist and the owner hired a PI.

A couple years later i ran into the PI and he ask me if i would be interested in working for him once in a while.

He did investigations for investors putting up money for small mining companies.
I worked for him a couple times a year checking out mining operations as a mining consultant.
I never let on that i was skilled in mining.

At one mine we checked out they claimed to be taking out about 40 ounces of gold a month.
But i could see although the mine had been ready to work it had not been in years.
The guys working at the mine were not miners and were more the pinstriped suit types.

But the final gold processing area had been used a lot.
The PI i was working for reported this to the investor and the cops.

I got a knock at the door a couple weeks later by someone asking questions about what i had saw.
I told them i had to check in with the PI i was working for before i could say any thing.

A phone call later i found i was talking to the IRS and FBI.

The mine owners were not mining gold but were fencing stolen gold taken in crimes.
They were melting down the gold and pouring bars that were untraceable.

my guess is the lady at the Door was a IRS investigator as they do not like to tell people they are from the IRS.
everyone clams up when talking to the IRS.

originally posted by: Aqualung2012

Several people have suggested that it might have been a P.I. and someone suggested that it might have been a process server. I would think that a P. I. could come up with a better cover story that wouldn't have alerted as much suspicion. "Health Research Project" (or whatever it was) invites questions the person, if up to no good, wouldn't want to have to answer such as, "What kind of research?" "What project"? "Is this about Ebola? Do the neighbors have Ebola?!?" "Is there some kind of health problem I should be worried about?" "Is the old couple sick"? Etc.

A process server trying to dig up information on when your neighbors would be home could have gotten that information with a better cover story, too. She could have simply said she was their niece from out of town and expected them to be in but they weren't home and ask you when they usually get home--something like that. I came up with that in about three seconds and it's better than health research project.

In either case, I doubt they'd be wearing a lanyard I.D. Of course, we're all going to be embarrassed if you call the Health Dept and they tell you that they were doing a health research project.

well don't keep us hanging!!! This is like a cliff hanger you have to wait til next season to find out who dunnit. Very curious!

originally posted by: Aqualung2012
a reply to: DISRAELI

The vagueness of the question was concerning, no doubt. It's KBG grade ambiguity. As you know, the main question was "when are they in?"

But why would someone with an interest in face to face contact with my neighbors refuse to leave any contact information? Any why wouldn't they have some direction with the questioning?

Not good, not good. May have been a spook job aimed at you. Or maybe those folks "escaped" from the Church of Scientology.

a reply to: Logarock

Have you had the opportunity to communicate this all to the neighbors yet? You could perhaps call them and leave a message on their phone.. By taking so long to get in touch with them, you're actually feeling a bit disrespectful towards them in my opinion; afterall,
they are an older, elderly couple..why are you taking so long to get in touch with them..


My first instincts would be to protect my neighbors! Right now. Stop thinking about everything and respond,

This thread has completely sucked me in as well and I have this need to know what happens next! It's like watching a TV show on Netflix- you just have to know what happens in the next episode so before you know it you've just had a marathon Breaking Bad session.

I genuinely keep checking back here every couple of hours to see if you've visited your neighbours yet- the suspense is killing me!

a reply to: lynn112

As for the odd responses she gave you, one phrase caught my attention so I googled it. "health research procedure" (with quotes)

Yah that bothered me too. My mind jumped to ebola cases.....what if it was a couple who traveled on a plane with that nurse and the CDC or NIH tracked em down to this neighborhood?
But if she refused to identify herself that is highly suspicious.

a reply to: Aqualung2012

You've had ample time to call the Health Dept, the police department, talk to the old couple and the other neighbors. Have you done so and what have you learned as a result?

Definitely not census worker...

My neighbors are a couple who both work 10-12 hour days, and when the census was being taken a lady came to my door - first thing she did was show ID (actually handed me the laminated card/w photo, so I could really look at it), then she explained the difficulty of trying to catch the neighbors 'in' during the day, asked if I would mind answering her questions, explaining (and showing the stack of forms) that if I was willing, I would need to give my name and sign that the info was correct...

I knew my neighbors wouldn't care and with all of the above (and being able to see that this poor woman was just trying to get her job done), I went ahead and answered the questions, which actually turned out to be more 'confirming' the info already on record...

So, yeah OP, not a census taker...