West Des Moines, Metro Police Warn of Home Possible Security Scam

A 64-year-old West Des Moines woman got her money back, but she had some anxious moments Saturday after she began to suspect she’d been scammed by a man she’d paid $150 to make a routine digital upgrade to her ADT security system.

The man allegedly showed up unannounced at her Valley Junction home and identified himself as a representative of ADT Home Security who “was sent out to upgrade her service to digital, just as television had gone digital,” according to Officer Chris Morgan’s report.

Before he left, she had reportedly given him and his associates – all wearing maroon-colored shirts with the word “Monitronics” on them –  $49.99 and $99.99 checks, respectively, for monthly monitoring and equipment installation, as well as two keychain remotes for her current ADT system. In return, the men gave her a $35 cash refund for the unused portion of her current month’s ADT service.

The homeowner told Morgan that the man wrote a letter to ADT requesting that her service be canceled and then had her sign it, then asked her to sign a new contract with a company known as 1st Defense Security, a Henderson, NV, company.

She began to sense “something was weird,” according to the report, and got a partial license plate number as the men drove away in a newer white sedan. That information, along with the identification the man had presented, was enough for West Des Moines police to catch up with him.

According to Morgan’s report, he “claimed he had done nothing wrong … that he never claimed he worked for ADT” and that the woman had written the ADT cancellation letter herself. “I told him I saw the letter and knew it had not been written by the victim,” Morgan wrote. “He claimed that he wrote it to save her time and had her sign it.”

Morgan reminded the man of the city’s requirement that he have a permit to solicit within city limits and advised him to cease activity until he had obtained one.

After the encounter with Morgan, the suspect reportedly called the woman and made arrangements to return her money. Though the checks were returned, the man still has access to her bank account and routing numbers.

Earlier, West Des Moines police had received two suspicious persons reports of individuals also wearing maroon Monitronics shirts. According to police reports, homeowners at two addresses said the men claimed to represent ADT, but they did not allow them into their homes.

Contacted by Morgan, officials with ADT said the men aren’t affiliated with their company. Authorities haven’t yet determined if 1st Defense Security is a legitimate business.