For those of us in the USA, I wanted to post a scam alert regarding home security systems.

Whether you own, lease, or have family that does...check this out;

There is a company out there by the name of APX that appears to be engaged in some very underhanded business.

Apparently they send out an army of well-dressed, polite young men who go from door-to-door charming their ways into people's homes and signing them up for a "free" alarm system.

They have credentials - it's a legit company - but the issue is that they fast-talk & conive people into signing a contract with APX for a system installation (sometimes even if the home already HAS an alarm system) under the pretense that it's FREE so long as the homeowner displays the APX sign on the front lawn for a year.

In the fine print, the homeowner is also agreeing to receive central station monitoring @ around $40/month for 60 months.

They have been targeting neighborhoods with elderly residents, who tend to be frightened or intimidated easily.

Check out posting on the consumer affairs site for yourself HERE

OMG! This alarm company just came through my neighborhood! (We have an alarm system already which i didn't tell them about....and I told them I'll shoot an intruder anyway so I didn't need a new system). Anyway, we have a lot of elderly and they got several new systems on our street...and get this.....the guy was like oh...well we are only doing a certain number around here...so I was like, well if I need one, I'll just go to another company...if they are trying to rush you its usually not a good sign....

StillGotIt said:

Apparently what this company does (nationwide) is hire college students from out-of-state, give them a training seminar, and they drop them off by the vanfuls into neighborhoods to solicit door-to-door. The kids get paid a commission per contract sold (about $100 for a $3,000 contract!!!!).

They also have ways to sneak past your defenses and enter your home ("Oh - is that your alarm keypad?") and once inside its more likely that they'll score the sale.

If you know of anyone who's susceptible to this scam, please alert them!!!

Never heard of them but would alert neighbors if I see them coming.

angel345 said:

Thanks for the info.