The My SOS Family personal emergency alarm used in Amazon’s Alexa Skill was designed with the elderly and vulnerable people in mind.
Without a word…
… the SOS app raises an alarm and can effectively scare off those preying on the elderly and vulnerable ones.
Police warning
Upmarket fish vans are targeting elderly and vulnerable people.
With the scammers using the door to door selling techniques to con old age pensioners, people cannot feel safe at their homes.
The police have warned residents to be vigilant and report anyone selling fish or meat from the vans.
Burglary tricks and how does the scam works
The crooks are using very pushy sales techniques to sell fish or meat from the vans, and pretending that it's a high quality overstocked product and using fake labels showing use-by dates nearing, they are pressuring seniors to buy the meat from them.
Once they've convinced the the customer to buy with all the pushy techniques of a used car salesman, they insist on taking the food into the house and putting it in the fridge.
That gives them perfect opportunity to have a look around and assess the value of the possessions and the security system.
White chalk marks on the walls
Seniors who fell prey and were robbed, they have noticed white chalk marks outside their homes. White chalk on walls is regarded as a 'sign' used to identify a property as a potential target for burglars or thieves.
The number of reported burglaries in the area have risen.
Some victims are saying that they had bought fish earlier that day or week from a door to door salesman.
How My SOS Family personal alarm can help them
Just before answering the door to a stranger, customers who own Amazon’s Alexa Echo with the My SOS Family skill, can trigger the system with their voice.
All they need to do is to set the My SOS Family personal SOS timer on their Alexa for 7 minutes. That should be just enough to assess the situation.
If at the door there is a somebody they know, they can go back and cancel the SOS timer or extend it, should they need so.
If the visit is from a stranger who is selling fish or they suspect a scam, then when the Alexa SOS timer reaches zero in say 7 minutes, My SOS Family personal alarm will send alerts to emergency SOS contacts.
It is important to remember that the prospective victims can’t ask for help once the stranger is already in the house as this might escalate the situation. So, they need to set up the SOS timer before getting the door.
One of the contacts who has taken responsibility will naturally phone their elderly relative to find out what is happening and if they are OK or need help.
This gives the person being conned an excuse to close the door and answer the phone. On the phone they get support and confidence to either tell the stranger they aren’t interested or hand the stranger the phone, and the family member can ask them to leave.
The SOS Personal Alarm Timer from My SOS Family is also available on the Google’s Home Speaker.
If you do not have a smart speaker assistant the My SOS Family emergency alert App is available for the iPad, iPhone or any Android Smartphone and tablet these apps all have the SOS Timer.