A woman in Dollard-des-Ormeaux is warning others on Montreal's West Island about a man who may be posing as a Vidéotron technician, casing homes for future break-ins.

Lisa-Marie Fitzwilliam said she was home alone with her child Saturday when someone rang the doorbell claiming to be from Vidéotron.

The man had no identification and no Vidéotron-marked vehicle, and he was wearing a hard hat and orange vest.

He told her he needed access to the common garage she shares with a neighbour and to their electrical room.

However, Vidéotron isn't Fitzwilliam's telecommunications service provider.

"The presentation was off. I felt it right away," she said, adding the man was peering around her, seemingly trying to get a look inside her home.

She asked the man who he was looking for. He replied that he wasn't looking for anyone or even a specific address.

Fitzwilliam offered to give him the number for the president of her condo association. She went inside, assuming he'd follow her. When he didn't, she went to see where he was.

He'd disappeared.

More potential victims

She called her husband, who informed her a neighbour had recently had a similar experience.

She then called Dollard-des-Ormeaux's public security service, as well as Vidéotron.

The representative she spoke to at the telecommunication company said there were no service calls scheduled for her address, street or postal code.

The Vidéotron representative said technicians never show up without calling first.

Then she called 911, and the emergency service dispatched police officers to her house. They took a statement and the photo she had taken of the man.

Police told her there had been a recent break-in in her neighbourhood, and it was possible the man she'd encountered had been checking out homes in the area to see who was home when, and whether the home was worth robbing.

She said she has since heard similar stories from two neighbours, and after posting what had happened on a Facebook group, she's heard from a half dozen others – mostly in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pierrefonds – who reported also being targeted.