Posted: Jan. 27, 2010

Two elderly Wauwatosa women were tricked by men who posed as utility company employees to gain entry to the victims' homes.

According to Wauwatosa police:

An 87-year-old woman was working in garage in the 6700 block of West Wisconsin Avenue, when she heard a knock on the door about 1 p.m. Jan. 19. She answered and a man said he needed to check on her electrical transformer. She left the garage door open and allowed him into her home.

The man flipped a light switch several times. Then he asked the homeowner to hold her finger on the switch and let him know if it jumped around. Meanwhile, he talked on his cell phone for 10 to 15 minutes, and Then he abruptly left her house.

When she returned to the garage, money was missing from her purse and her file drawers had been disturbed.

An hour later, police were called to a home in the 400 block of North 114th Street.

The homeowner said he had left to do errands, but his 88-year-old mother stayed at the house. He had turned off the television before he left and his mother did not know how to turn it on, so he became suspicious when he found it on when he returned.

His mother said a man from Time Warner Cable had come by to check the cable connection. She let him in and noticed a second man sitting in a plain white van across the street. A call to the company resulted in no record of a service call to that house.

Wauwatosa police say it's likely the incidents were related. Similar incidents have happened throughout the Milwaukee area in the last couple of weeks.

"These are frequent events," said Don Semega, the department's community resource officer. "They don't happen every week, but unfortunately they keep coming up."

Semega has a mantra when it comes to determining the validity of a service call: "ID, uniform and vehicle." Look for a logo or company name on the work vehicle, look over the employee's uniform and ask to see identification.

"If I don't have two of those three, I'm not comfortable," he said.

When it comes to Time Warner Cable, the technicians wear company-branded clothing and ID badges and the vehicles are clearly marked, said spokeswoman Stacy Zaja.

In addition, any in-home appointments are scheduled in advance, she said.

"There should be no surprise visits," Semega said.

He suggests preparing for the appointment by having a friend over for coffee at the time of the scheduled appointment and cleaning up - put away purses, checkbooks and personal documents - before the service person's arrival.

Semega also recommends putting the phone numbers for all utility providers - electric, gas, landline telephone and cable or satellite television and Internet - and posting them by the phone or on the refrigerator. That way if there's any suspicion, the resident can make a quick call before allowing the service person in the house.

If there is a reason to believe the person is posing as a service technician to gain access to the house, do not let him in and call police immediately, Semega said.