Would you have let her in to use your phone?

I think so too.Maybe if she was being truthful,her 'friends' were not wanting to answer the door because they were avoiding her.

I guess, you did the right thing... It is always good to act upon what the minds says about this... And if you didn't feel that her appearance, manners etc were not appropriate, then you certainly did the best thing.. The example that you've mentioned here about your sis smoking, confirms that this stranger didn't have nice intentions.. I think, you should inform your neighbours about it. The next time, it wouldn't be this girl to make an attempt, it would be someone else... That's how these people work, as far as know... Be cautious!

Her friend does not live in our road but in the next street,she said they had just moved there which was a bit fishy I thought because even if I lived in their road, I wouldn't recognize the name (she didn't give a name or number of the house). She sounded very like my sister when she was about 14 trying to deny that she had been smoking when it was obvious that she had, I mean she sounded cagey and not altogether convincing. She had tried one other house in the whole street (about 30 homes in that road) before coming to ours. The person there didn't let her use their phone else she wouldn't have been asking me to use mine. I'll probably never know if she was genuine but I shall keep my ears open in case anyone says they had the same person knocking on their door.

I think that most people will not let her in . There is so much on TV about people tricking others with false stories that most people are on their guard at once. Luckily my elderly neighbour who might have let her in ,is away .

Dogs have a way of knowing who to trust. I lean on my dogs senses, she knows who to trust. I think this day and age, if you can you should have a dog. They are good protection and company.

When we owned a dog,I always took her to the door with me. Once a young girl knocked and tried to get me to subscribe to a gambling syndicate. She seemed far too young to be doing that sort of thing and our dog snarled at her really viciously even though she was usually friends to all the world.

We had one for a good long time but with traveling to and from the kids universities it would very difficult. I would like a small dog in the future. Ours was an Alsatian and she was always full of bounce and woof but friendly as anything.

There have been a few scams where the person will register a phone to a premium number and then anyone who rings it, is charged for the privilege. Just like when you telephone to vote on TV talent shows. The phone company has no way of knowing it isn't you using your phone so you must pay the bill anyway. It doesn't matter whether you have the number or not after the call is finished. My husband thought that ,that is most likely to have been the reason she would not tell me the number as it would not be an ordinary phone number but noticeably different..

That is scary. I have never heard of such things in my country though. Well, you did the right thing by not letting her use your phone.

Hey friend, My God! If the police are so indifferent about the people's complain, who else are we going to trust for help? In this there no way out except we establish our own security body with our local people. Have a nice day.

Yeah she was a fishy character. I don't think calling the police round here would have helped at all. Our local police are so lethargic. Usually i like the police but out lot are ridiculous. Once I had an intruder in my garden and when I rang them they told me to go and ask him what he wanted. Another time my neighbours burglar alarm went off and when I rang them they told me that as I had the front door key, I should go and check if it was a burglar or not.

I did feel guilty really to say no but as you say,she was acting a bit oddly. She seemed to know a youth who passed her as she went to try another house.

well,no need to feel guilty as you did as a precaution for your own safety.Better be safe than be sorry.cheer up

thanks tayd88 ,I do think it was the right decision and I'm sure my husband will think it was.

I had a guy come to my door claiming to be from such-and-such company, had an ID around his neck. He said he was here to inspect my hot water heater for free and if there was a problem we would book a time for service maintenance. I said, "I don't know who you are or the company you claim to be from so I'm not letting you in my house." He understood and left. After I closed the door I realized my hot water heater is a rental from my gas company. They would be the ONLY people to inspect and maintain my hot water heater. The guy COULD have been legit, but not for MY hot water heater.

She had covered her bases by saying they had just moved in. I am suspicious of a person who is so ready with her 'forms of ID' and her answers to everything even though they don't seem logical, manner. It sounded too planned out. Hubby said it was right not to let her in, he sounded suspicious even as I described it to him .

I like to check, too, though it's difficult to do so where I live, without the person seeing me. Usually I don't even answer the door, unless I can see that it is someone I know, or am expecting (such as package delivery, repair person, etc.). I've always been like this for some reason. Some people think it is being paranoid, I say it's being careful, and it's kept me alive this long!

Strangely she went to another house after ours in which the women live alone and I imagine they did not answer the door. I am often alone in my house as my husband works over 40 miles away and commutes every day. Quite a few of the houses in our road are occupied by widows or elderly people and it was at a time of day when younger people are at work and their kids are in school. Her knock was urgent and insistent , like the knock the postman makes when he knows you are upstairs and may not hear a soft knock. I usually peep out of the upstairs window and answer it if I think it is worth the bother but it was so like his knock, that I automatically answered it.

i have let strangers use my cell before. but i keep close to them just in case. but it does depend how they acting as well

She said this person had just moved in. We have mobile phones but so did she. Her phone was run out but I don't know if she meant credit or battery power. I think I would have been risking it to hand her my mobile phone ,it has all my details on and my families numbers and after all,she wouldn't even give me the number to phone even though she knows I live here but know nothing about her. Her friends were apparently in the next road but why come to our road to knock on doors?

Hi again panda! The best way to "fight" is with your mouth! That's always been my "way" too!

LOL Thanks Opal26. It makes me think of the phrase, once bitten twice shy. I have had a few nasty encounters in the past (at school) and I think it makes me a harder ,more cautious person . I have had money demanded of me on my way home from school too(when I was about 13)and managed to remove myself from the situation by talking my way out of it ,while inside, my heart was going like a jack hammer but my head was saying 'all around ,people are witnesses and you can talk loud and clear so they hear it all'.

I don't like lending my phone to strangers, either (cell phone...no one gets in the house to use my home phone). I recently lent a phone to someone on a train, only because I knew he couldn't go anywhere as it would be 10-15 minute to the next stop. But I kept a close eye on him the whole time. A couple of months ago, I had someone come up to me at Starbucks and ask to use my phone, which he could see I had plugged into the wall. He had some weird story about how he was from out of state, on his way to see someone, car broke down, etc. But this was nowhere near any interstate, even a bit far from the Parkway exit to really buy this story. I suggested he ask the people working there to let him use the phone or make a call for him, but he didn't like that idea. After I lied to him and said that the phone had no charge and wouldn't work plugged into the wall, he left. (He didn't bother to ask any of the other 10 people in the place to use their phone). I saw that he met up with someone else, and they walked across the parking lot, passed a couple of police cars....if they were in trouble, surely they could've asked the police for help, or directions to a pay phone, or something. Very odd, too, that between the two of them they did not have a working phone. I'm sure it is possible they really did have a legitimate problem, and I felt a bit guilty, as I've been stuck places with a broken-down car myself, but it really is too risky to trust people these days.

In both those situations trust was automatic and being wary came afterwards. I think we are probably all like that at first and it just depends how quickly we find ourselves duped to make us think twice the next time. I had things stolen from me in school because I was too trusting (I mean when I was about 11 years old),even though it was obvious that we were penniless and those doing the stealing thought of it as a funny little adventure and themselves clever for having wangled their reward. My son when he went to scout camps kept his spending money on him the whole time and at one camp was accused of stealing the other children's money because he was the only one who hadn't reported his ,being taken. He had to point out that he had kept it on him (even in his pajamas) because he didn't trust one of the other boys and when they searched the other boys things(they searched everyone's belongings) they found all the other money and some that had come from elsewhere too in that other boys possession.

She was not overly concerned really. I know if I had been , I would have asked the householder if they could please just phone for me. It's awful to think we can't just say yes but I am on my guard with anyone who just knocks at random like that,especially as she tried to peep in the window with her hands cupped round her eyes to see if there was anyone in . I wonder if she is new to the area and checking out the lie of the land. We have housing estates in our town where the crime is bad and sometimes people from one estate are transferred to another in the same town to dissipate the trouble.

From what you've said to others, I'd say you were right to be suspicious. As you say, it's awful to think you can't just do what comes naturally and help out, but you have to think of your own security above other considerations these days.

I didn't know that cell phones could have personal info on them. Mine doesn't, but it is just a straightforward phone. It doesn't do all the things they can do now. I just wanted a phone I don't need all that other stuff. You were right to not let her use your cell in that case. Better safe than sorry, as the saying goes.

I have got a cell phone . We have 2 of them in the house but I am not lending a stranger my cell phone when it is my emergency contact with all my details on it. Mine was quite expensive and bought with savings. If she had been a friend,she would have come inside and had a cup of tea as well as use the phone but I had never seen her before.

That's a good point I hadn't thought to even suggest it to her.

Weirdly she didn't try the next couple of houses but the one on the end by the alley where a group of sisters live together(no man in the house),even though there was a man about 5 houses up,outside mending his car who she could have asked without even having to knock.

She certainly seemed very cagey about letting it be known who should would be dialing. There are some phones in the street on the other side from her friend I think, not the same road but only the same distance in the opposite direction. I wouldn't hand her coins though because it is a weakening of conviction on my part and she might use it to further gain favours on another occasion especially if she lives nearby.

Yep she was not a good lady I think. I haven't seen her since but I am sure I would recognise her if I did. My mind raced on and I am thinking about her height ,weight and features in case the police need to know but at the end of the day, the situation ended with me saying 'no' and her walking away.

Thanks. Even my trusting neighbour though that this lady sounded fishy. I think had she managed to come inside, it would have ended up in being a punch up as there is no way I would have let her walk out with anything that was not hers.

I think we have to distrust everyone at first and then work from there. I used to say to my children never talk to strangers and it was a golden rule with them. Once at the bus stop, a man was talking to them and they ignored him. He said your children are very rude not to answer and I said they aren't being naughty, they are following the rule 'never talk to strangers' and he and his wife understood at once. Really we had meant it to be when they were not with us but they had followed it to the letter. I learned that one of my relatives was abused by a family friend long ago. His parents absolutely trusted that person and so didn't think anything of leaving the child in his care. So sad that there are such nasty people around ,it makes me wary of everyone .

I saw my neighbour yesterday and she said luckily she was out on that day. She said she never ever lets anyone inside anyway. Last Autumn we had a pest control man to kill a wasp nest in the roof. I came with him and watched him from the top of the ladder. He didn't have any protective clothing or even gloves. He said it was cold so any wasps would be quite slow to react and he knew the nest was small. He sprayed something and said that would do it. I thought he spent a lot of time looking at our things in the roof(I didn't say so) but he said he was just checking if there was another nest. Anyway about a week later, my husband went in the roof to check the water tank and came down quite quickly. He said,'there is a wasps nest up there I could fit my leg in'. So how did this pest control man not see it with his trained eye when he spent such a long time looking? There are so many dishonest people, it is difficult to know who to trust.