Deputies warn of possible security service scam in Berkeley County

BERKELEY COUNTY, SC (WCSC) - Berkeley County deputies are warning residents in the Sangaree community to keep an eye out for a man posing to work for a security company and trying to come inside homes to fix residents' security systems.

"Some guy in a white, four-door car came up, parked across the street, stating that our alarm system had a low battery," said Shannon Barentine, who lives in Summerville.

Barentine and her family knew something was wrong when a man came to their door on Wednesday saying their security system needed repairs.

"It's kind of odd because our security alarm system usually beeps whenever the batteries dying and it didn't beep. It didn't do anything," Barentine said.

"He said he needed to come in and check it out, but we didn't let him in," Summerville resident Peggy Barentine said.

That's when Shannon and her family told the man to leave. Right after that, they called the police.

"It's more than likely a scam, and if so, that's against the law," Shannon Barentine said.

Berkeley County deputies say this is a scam. The family says the man also tried to do the same thing to neighbors down the street.

"He started heading to my place and I waved him off like I didn't want any part of it," Summerville resident John Franklin said.

"I think he might have wanted to come in to check the house out to see what's in here and where things are to disarm the system," said Peggy Barentine.

Neighbors have been keeping an extra eye out lately because of break-ins in the area.

"I had my house broken into about six months ago. We are pretty close knit in this neighborhood. We watch each others' homes all the time," Franklin said.

"I just want to let everybody know so that way, especially the elderly people who are very trustworthy of anybody, don't let anybody in the house that you don't know," Shannon Barentine said.

Deputies say security system employees will always be in a company vehicle, they will always have company identification and they would never come to a customer's home just to check up on a low battery alarm.

Deputies say the man was wearing a shirt with a GE logo and possibly had Utah plates. If you were a victim of this scam, call the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office.

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