[Skip2MySue]

...NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!*

1. Some people
left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose while away, and
someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car's registration
in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people's home in Pebble
Beach and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in
long-term parking, we should NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in
it, nor your remote garage door opener.

This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic
technology.

2. GPS.
Someone 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.

3. CELL PHONES

I never thought of this.......

This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell
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them all the money was already withdrawn.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withdrawn all the money from their bank account.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:

a. 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....

b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts,
CONFIRM by calling back.

c. 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.

][/B]

[jblum315]

Valuable information. Some things I never thought of such as the cell phone con.

[Happinow]

Good info....thanks

[chuck90199]

All great advice. I'd heard about the GPS before, so I changed the "HOME" to the address of the police station. Surprise!

[rubicon]

We are victims of our technology and it is going to get worse before it gets better. The like button on social media allow people to build an excellent profile on all your personals.All of us are easily distracted these days and any one of these situations could occur to us

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by rubicon

We are victims of our technology and it is going to get worse before it gets better. The like button on social media allow people to build an excellent profile on all your personals.All of us are easily distracted these days and any one of these situations could occur to us

The OP's suggestions are terrific; I'd never thought of some of them, especially the GPS thing! Many thanks!!!

And this is one of the reasons why I won't use social media sites....

[anarick]

Excellent advice. Thanks

[Love2cruise]

Originally Posted by chuck90199

All great advice. I'd heard about the GPS before, so I changed the "HOME" to the address of the police station. Surprise!

Love that!

[mainlander]

Just great advice.

[Virtual Geezer]

A comment about the GPS and removing your home address. While being a good recommendation it is of little use if you do not clear your routes every time you arrive at a destination.

Regardless if you are using a planned route that you created or just happen to have the GPS turned on while you are driving your route or track is recorded. A few clicks of the menu screen and it is easy to see where the track started from.

Now if have used your GPS on for the past week and have not cleared out the tracks it is easy to find the starting of all your tracks and a thief will have your home address.

To resolve this read your GPS manual and find out how to clear out the tracks. Remember to so this every time you arrive at your destination and make it a habit. I never leave my GPS in view when I am not near the car. If the car is going to be parked for a period of time I remove the GPS mount and place it in the trunk so that there is no sign that I ever had one.

VG

[asianthree]

my bank only allows $200 per day and without id they could not go into the bank,,just saying but the rest is very interesting

[gustavo]

Originally Posted by Skip2MySue

...NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!*
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.
][/B]

Must have only had $500 in the account. not a big hit.

[buggyone]

" I never leave my GPS in view when I am not near the car. If the car is going to be parked for a period of time I remove the GPS mount and place it in the trunk so that there is no sign that I ever had one."

Besides doing this same thing, I go one step further. I make sure the "flip cover" to the plug (you know, the old cigarette lighter) is covering the plug. This gives the impression you have not just removed something that had to be plugged in a socket.

[asianthree]

With today's cell phones who needs a gps

[Virtual Geezer]

Originally Posted by asianthree

With today's cell phones who needs a gps

A GPS has a more reliable signal that a cell phone hands down. I assume that you never had a dropped call?

VG