Not all thieves are stupid
Not all thieves are stupid.
This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car
broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the
green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted
to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote
control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the
dashboard.
When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and
just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the
GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open
the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at
the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so
they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that
they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.
Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it..
Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your
way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if
your GPS were stolen.
MOBILE PHONES
I never thought of this.......
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile
phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone,
credit card, wallet... Etc...was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her
hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I received
your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.' When
they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already
withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in
the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had
withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
Moral of the lesson:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact
list.
Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....
And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts,
CONFIRM
by calling back
Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be
sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach
them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text
you..
I never thought about the above!
As of now, I no longer have 'home' listed on my cell phone.