More Info On Mountain Lions

This came to us from our Neighbors over in Stone Bridge  Near El Camino Real and  La Noria.

Announcement from Stonebridge POA [Rancho Santa Fe, CA] 

This email is to inform you that one of your neigbors reported that there was a mountain lion siting at the entrance of the community on Friday May 27. It was a female with 2 large cubs – one of whom stopped to look and snarl. Her boldness would indicate that your pets may not be safe unless well fenced even in daytime.

Mountain Lion Seen Near Fairbanks Ranch

Fairbanks Ranch Security reported that a resident's employee in their community spotted a Mountain Lion on Saturday May 21.  It was on a horse ranch near El Apajo and the San Dieguito River area.  This is a common area for these animals to be seen.  As far as we know, the sighting has not been confirmed by Fish and Game.  See earlier posts for precaustions with these animals.    

Sheriff Crime Mapping Tool

San Diego Sheriff Announces:
Crimemapping.com
The Sheriff’s Department has launched a new Internet tool for the residents of San Diego County. Crimemapping.com, a creation of San Diego-based Omega Group, retrieves crime data, maps it by address, and positions it in crime categories for web users to view. Sensitive crimes, such as domestic violence and sex crimes will not be posted.  Users can see mapped crime; generate summary reports for various time periods, directly link to crime prevention information, and sign up for e-mail alerts. The link will also be available on the Sheriff’s Internet site as a Public Resource, as well as the Crime Prevention and Crime Analysis pages. Crimemapping.com also has the capacity to automatically send e-mail notifications of recent crimes and then go from mapped crime to real action. Each crime on the map will link back to the Sheriff’s Crime Prevention information page. Users can enter an address or select a specific city within the Sheriff’s jurisdiction. Users will click on a crime and the reported date, time, and general location will be
displayed except Domestic Violence/Sex Assaults. “This is giving our citizens timely information for informed action,” commented Sheriff Gore. “The website sums it up well when it says, ‘well-informed people make better decisions.” For more information, contact the Encinitas Crime Prevention Unit,  @ (760) 966-3587 or 88    http://www.sdsheriff.net/

Magazine Sellers

Over the years we have encountered young adults going door to door selling magazine subscriptions.  One of the ruses is to tell you that they represent a local sports team- like soccer or baseball.  Or, they may say that the neighbor  "the Smith's" down the street just gave me some money......  (that's because they just read their name sign out front......)  They are very slick in their approach.  Well a new batch of solicitors are going door to to door in neighboring areas- here is some info from the Sheriff's Dept. :

Magazine sales scam in San Diego County are being reported to law enforcement. Several students from Cal State San Marcos have been victimized, one for over $500.00 cash in Vista. There were a call from Escondido as well. The Reporting Parties are reporting that part of the ruse is that they are part of project/class with Cal State San Marcos and/or San Diego State. Report any suspicious activity to the Sheriff's Department @ 858-565-5200.

Door to door vendors have to have permits issued by the Sheriff.  They have to be visible and backed up by another legitimate form of ID.  Church groups are exempt.  Our suggestion is not to give anything to door to door vendors.  If you want to donate money, ask them to send you something in the mail.  That way you will have time to look it over and decide if it is legitimate.  They should have a Federal Tax ID number.  Sometimes these solicitors are crooks looking for a way into your house or "casing the  place". 

Burglary Warning

We have had a few burglaries since the beginning of the year.  All of the burglaries are occurring during the daytime and entry to the homes has been without force in most of the cases.  It appears that the suspects are most likely approaching the house and knock on the door- if someone answers they maybe ask for work.   When no one answers, they proceed to look for a location to gain entry.  Losses include all different kinds of personal items.   We urge everyone to lock their homes when they leave, turn on alarm systems  and report people coming to the door looking for work that seem suspicious. 

Scam Beware

We recently had a report about someone calling a resident saying they were FeEx and had a delivery.  When the resident called FeEx, he discovered that they did not have a package to deliver.  Be wary of these types of calls.   Usually, you know when FedEx is going to deliver a package.  All the carriers use tracking numbers that are provided to you when you purchase an item.  these numbers give you a pretty good idea when to expect delivery.  The same is true when you have someone send a package thru a mailbox express business or packing service. 

If you recieve one of these calls, call the carrier to confirm (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.)  If you receive one of these calls you can also confirm the number they called from- by using *69 on your phone. 

Don't answer your door with out looking thru a peep hole or a side window.  All of these carriers wear distinctive uniforms and have ID badges.  If in doubt, call us!

Here is some information on a variation of this scam (from UCAN website):

CONTACT FEDEX OR UPS COURIER SERVICES NOW IS THE NEW NIGERIAN SCAM.  If you get an email like the one below or a phone call telling you there's money waiting to be delivered to you by UPS, Fed Ex or other delivery services, DON'T RESPOND TO THE EMAIL AND HANG UP ON ANYONE CALLING YOU to say money is waiting for you and shall be delivered C.O.D. "today". Part of the trick is to get you to agree to provide your full name, address, bank name, social security number or any other personal information. UCAN received one call last Friday and I received two emails today.   two ucan seniors called to report that they received calls stating UPS was trying to deliver money or checks to them via cash on delivery or C.O.D.  Folks, this is a scam and many people have been hurt by it.  Ususally, the callers have noticeable foreign accents and can't pronounce your name correctly or ask for another name to get you to provide your real name. Authors of the emails write in a manner that is worded differently than you or I would write or speak.

Mountain Lion Spotted

Early this morning, one of our dispatchers going home spotted a mountain lion on Calzada Del Bosque south of Via De Santa Fe.  This was about 1:45 hrs this morning.  The animal was running and she said it jumped a fence. 

This sighting has not been confirmed by Fish and Game.  As in our previous posts, sightings should be reported to Fish and Game.   This helps track the animals activity and help to confirm the sighting.  Sometimes the animals are mistaken for Bobcat, Coyote and large dogs.  If you do see a mountain lion, do not approach it.  Make as much noise as you can- make yourself look big.  Refer to our previous post on this subject (below).