Fake Bank Appraiser Shows It’s Easy To Get Inside Phoenix Home

PHOENIX, AZ — A home construction project was a powerful lure for the imposter who recently came to Kacia Huddleston’s Phoenix home and claimed to be a bank appraiser. Her business there seemed legitimate enough: She said she was there to take pictures of the renovation work for the bank, and her presence didn't seem unusual in a hive of construction activity.

She even knew Huddleston’s husband's name is Bryan, so as the whole thing went down last week, Huddleston just figured he had forgotten to tell her the appraiser would be people in and out of the couple’s home near 22nd Street and Glendale Avenue. She was texting her husband to check when the woman walked right into the house and started taking pictures, Huddleston told television station KNXV.

The imposter moved quickly through the house, Huddleston said, and never stopped taking pictures even as Huddleston peppered her with questions. She finally reached Bryan, who was as puzzled by the woman's sudden appearance and her real identity as she was.

“I asked her to leave at that point, and she kept taking pictures while she was walking out of my house,” Huddleston told the television station. “I kept asking for ID, and what bank she worked for, but she didn’t even look at me and ran out to her car and took off.”

Suspicious after a neighbor was robbed by two men posing as utility workers, Huddleston thought the woman might have been casing her house and called Phoenix police. (Get Phoenix Patch's real-time news alerts and free morning news letters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

A review of home security surveillance tape cemented her suspicions: It showed the intruder snooping in the mailbox as she walked toward the door.

What happened to Huddleston isn’t that unusual. Phoenix police told the television station the internet makes it easy for crooks to obtain personal information that makes them look legitimate — like where you bank, the names of your family members and who are your friends are.

“What we share is what people will use against you if that’s what they’re up to” Phoenix police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune told KXNV.

Image: Police say that even if you think a worker is legitimate, you should ask to see a work identification badge or a business card. (Cultura/REX/Shutterstock)