Local authorities are among our growing list of clients. Partly because our award-winning key safes provide an access solution for vulnerable council tenants who might suffer with acute medical problems and mobility issues.
Our key safes have been installed at council-owned homes to assist home care workers with routine visits, but also to help emergency workers access properties at speed and without having to break down doors.
Southampton City Council has warned of a new in-person scam that targets tenants who have a key safe outside their property. In the scam, an individual claiming to be a Council warden has knocked on doors asking for occupants to divulge passcodes for their key safes.
As a trusted partner of local authorities, The Key Safe Company would like to reassure council tenants and advise them strongly against providing personal details if approached in this manner.
It is worth remembering that key safe passcodes and other sensitive information are only usually collected in a tenant’s annual review, during in-person visits that are often pre-arranged.
The Council has warned tenants to stay vigilant and to always check a warden’s ID badge to verify they are legitimate and authorised to ask for such information. Even then, it may be prudent not to divulge sensitive information to anyone who turns up unannounced.
A local authority, utilities company or private firm would understand an information refusal in this instance and, if legitimate, would happily follow up with an official request. If a resident did not want to wait and wished to be proactive, they could always call the associated organisation to query the visit.
This approach is one we would whole-heartedly endorse and could also be beneficial for private renters eager to protect the safety of their key safes and homes.
We’re supremely confident in the resilience and reliability of our key safes. But it’s essential people who use our products are cautious about handing over information that could compromise them.
If someone knocked on your door and asked for your bank details you wouldn’t give them out. The same principle should exist for a key safe code.