So I just had someone force their way into my home.

Hello everyone, first time I've posted here because I just moved in. Yesterday there was a pretty nasty storm, and some guy was in my back yard cleaning things up. I went out back to check things out, and he said he was here on the authority of the owner.

That owner is me. I just moved in a few months ago. I thought I'd go out and help and pay him for the work, since he was clearly looking for payment. The second I was unable to provide him my credit card or cash, he forces his way into the plaace and starts rummaging through my home. I've had the police remove him.

He was a tall, lean african american male with ill fitted black pants and shoes, wearing a button up that I seem to remember was orange (I was too frightened to document anything)

what do you reckon I could do to prevent things like this in the future? The seller sold me a home with a broken gate, so that's an ASAP priority.

I feel really bad about all this. I legitimately was going to pay him, but I don't use cash, so I couldn't provide anything for him. The first time I asked what his venmo was, he said he had one, and the second he did not, and demanded me to hand over my card. It hurts me a lot. I feel like a bad person. Had he the means, I was genuinely going to give him like $250 for the work I sincerely was not going to bother to do if he didn't show up. But then he started scaring me and now I'm finally safe in my home with my bedroom tossed.

What do I do? This isn't what I was expecting when I moved in.

Edit: I should be very blunt here, I have autism, and came from a place with basically no crime that I've ever witnessed; dunk on me, but have advice please. Additionally, I've had people in and out since I bought the place doing services the seller was doing to fix up some issues. Hence my willingness to go outside and figure out who they are in the first place. The fact I felt guilty is just... I feel like work deserves pay? Maybe I'm a naiive idiot but there's always a first time, I suppose. I've learned from this, and I've made some purchases and am looking for someone to fix some of the issues that the building faces from a security perspective.

Another edit: Are there other scams like this that I should be aware of?