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Covington woman claims man knocked on her door, tricked her into giving Social Security number

Man knocked on her door and claimed he could lower her cable bill

COVINGTON, La. — A Covington woman claims a man posing as a Spectrum employee tricked her into revealing her social security number.

Penny Jackson said her troubles began with a knock on her door.

"He had a clipboard and he said I'm with Charter-Spectrum," Jackson said.

The man dressed in what appeared to be a Spectrum uniform told Jackson he could help lower her cable bill.

The 69-year-old on a fixed income invited him into her home.

Jackson admits she didn't think to ask for his name or ID.

"He said you know what, I can get your Spectrum down to $107 a month and it's normally runs over $150 a month," Jackson said.

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He told her in order to get the deal, she needed to give him her social security number.

"After I did it, I thought, 'you're so stupid,'" Jackson said. "I knew I'd made a mistake."

After the man got her digits, he was gone.

Grace Wanner told her grandmother to immediately call Spectrum and the St. Tammany Sheriff's Office.

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"It just had me worried because handing out personal information can be extremely dangerous," Wanner said. "You could lose everything."

Jackson said she called WWL-TV to report what happened because of her concern about a possible scammer taking advantage of senior citizens on the Northshore.

"Just be careful and don't give out any information," Jackson said. "I'm mad at myself because I knew better."

The sheriff's office isn't sure this is actually a scam.

A spokeswoman for the department cautions people not to give out personal information until you know for sure the company representative is legitimate.

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She also said ask for a company contact number, call the company directly and always ask for ID.

Spectrum released this statement:

"We're looking into whether our outside sales representatives visited Ms. Jackson's home. Generally, our representatives will display company logos on their clothing and be able to produce a Spectrum identification badge. It's good practice to be wary of any solicitation from someone who pressures you to provide financial or personally identifiable information, and if a customer feels an offer or conversation doesn't sound right, they may contact us at 1-855-243-8892 to validate their account information or offers available in their area." 

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