(WOIO) - Alarm systems are supposed to keep you safe, but they also may make you a target for scammers. A woman wants to warn others after her elderly father-in-law was duped by con men who claimed he needed to update his home security system.

William Burnette said he feels safe in his home, but a recent knock at the door rattled his nerves. Men showed up claiming to be with his alarm company, but he later found out, none of it was true.

"Be careful who you let in your house," the 85-year-old said.

The men at the door claimed they were there to upgrade his existing system.

"What they were actually doing is taking the system I had out and putting their system in," he explained.

By the time he realized he had been fooled, the men had already ripped out his alarm system and installed their own. When his daughter-in-law, Susan, got word of what happened, she quickly started working to fix what had happened.

"From what I understand, this is a scamthat is done, especially with the elderly. Companies ride around the neighborhood and look for signs in the front yard for an alert system," Susan Burnette said.

Those con artists not only took out Burnette's system, they also got him to sign a contract. He had no clue what was going on.

His family hopes his story will be a warning to other seniors.

"Beware of signing any contracts if you are not sure about the company. Make sure you protect your identity and that you alert other people to this," Susan Burnette said.

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Consumer Alert: Scammers targeting home security systems

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AMSTERDAM, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --smanos, a trendsetting innovator and dynamic developer of wireless smart home and DIY security systems, is proud to announce that its K1 SmartHome DIY Kit has won over the 38-member jury of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015.

With this DIY Kit for home security and automation, smanos proved its design excellence in the most important competition for product design, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The international experts discussed and assessed each of the 4,928 entries from 56 countries, and only the designs that won over the jury with their quality and innovative power were given an award. The K1 from smanos succeeded in convincing the jury members, deservedly winning the much sought-after Red Dot seal of quality.

"We feel very honored and humbled to share this exciting news announcement with our partners, clients and investors worldwide," said Ken Li, founder and CEO of Chuango Security Technology Corporation (Beijing NEEQ ticker 831464), mother company of smanos. "The K1 is smanos' latest wireless smart home gateway, combining butler- and guard-like functions into a stack of aesthetically pleasing round discs. The discs come with aluminum frames and texturized plastic surfaces, particularly designed for everyday use."

"smanos K1 connects to up to 50 wireless accessories with ease, and its intuitive operation on the smartphone is a breeze," said Lily Chen, Senior Product Manager. "Such connected but wireless things include remote sockets/plugs, HD cameras, alarm detectors/sirens and environmental sensors. Comparable with high-caliber smartphones these days, smanos K1 is easily mount-and-play, and adding/removing features is just like adding/removing smartphone apps."

With such intuitive operation and DIY usability, your smart and connected home has just become that much more adorable and affordable with smanos K1. The designers behind this award-winning kit include Ken Li, Sam Xu and Zero Wu.

Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award said: "For 60 years, the most-respected design experts have been convening every year in Essen to seek out the best designs. This year we had a record number of almost 5,000 entries -- a huge amount of work for our jury members, who assessed each individual product, and a special value of the distinction due to the high standard. The laureates of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 have demonstrated exceptionally high achievements and have thus been deservedly successful in the world's largest design competition."

"Designed in Amsterdam and marketed worldwide, smanos is our complete security, monitoring and automation system lineup for today's homeowners," said Hayden Hsu, VP Marketing. "What makes smanos a must-have brand to distributors and retailers is that we're truly committed to researching, designing and delivering innovative, comprehensive and easy-to-use smart home solutions that will help them outperform their sales and profit targets."

About smanos

In the picturesque outskirts of Amsterdam came about the inception of smart home technology brand smanos in 2013. Harnessing cutting-edge design concepts and ergonomics, smanos delivers the ultimate user experience of wireless smart home and DIY security systems to households worldwide. Promising more than just a sense of security, smanos also ensures user-definable comfort and convenience, along with mobile accessibility and confirmation. In its pursuit for perfection in human-centric research and design, smanos continues to wow homeowners by putting the smarts of smart home and smart security directly in their hands. Dream big and live smart with smanos now!

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MEMPHIS, TN (localmemphis.com) Recent FBI statistics reveal that nearly 9 million property crimes take place in the United States each year.

A burglary occurs every 15 seconds.

That has many of us installing home alarm systems at an alarming rate. But how do you know which one is right for you?

Protecting your home from unwanted intruders is serious business. A modern alarm system with high-quality wireless equipment can be installed for about $700 dollars, but the real key is who is on the other end of the alarm.

"When considering a home alarm system, the monitoring is the most important. You can install an alarm that is just going to make sound in your house if somebody trips it, but the real value of an alarm system is it being tied to the police and the fire in case of an emergency," Angie Hicks of Angies List said.

When you meet with a home security company, find out what company they use for their alarm monitoring. Make sure it is U.L. certified or has a 5-star diamond rating from the Central Station Alarm Association. You will pay a separate monthly fee for this, which could range from 15 to 60 dollars depending on how sophisticated your system is. Once you are satisfied with that, it is time to decide on the equipment you need to adequately protect your home.

"We always recommend multiple layers of protection. Perhaps a perimeter security with cameras or motion lights. Then the next level would be window sensors that detect glass breakage, the window opening; of course, door sensors. And then another layer may be interior motion sensors on interior doors so we have multiple layers of coverage," home security professional Kirk Booher said.

Get several referrals before choosing a home security company and check that it is properly licensed. Once the equipment is installed, make sure you understand exactly how to use it to keep from setting it off accidentally.

"You don't want to have false alarms on your alarm system because if it's connected to the police and the fire department, you might actually get charged for them to visit in case of a false alarm," Hicks said.

A quality system requires virtually no maintenance and should last about 12 years.

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