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NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!! --Public service announcement

Rudy

Admin
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
27,638
Location
Beaumont, CA


NOW HEAR THIS...NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!

1. A friend of a friend 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.
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.

3. 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 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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:

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.

*PLEASE PASS THIS ON

* I never thought about the above! As of now, I no longer have 'home' listed on my cell phone.

Even if this does not pertain to you....Pass it on to your family and friends.



 
1. The registration has to be with the vehicle at all times.

2. If I need a GPS to find my way home, maybe I should reconsider driving.

3. If someone gets my debit card they are limited to $500 and even that amount is insured.

I pity the fool that breaks into my place. I have a room mate that only weighs 100 pounds but she likes to eat people she doesn't know. :laughing:

All things aside, you have to constantly be watching your back for thieves and the like.
 
1. The registration has to be with the vehicle at all times.

2. If I need a GPS to find my way home, maybe I should reconsider driving.
3. If someone gets my debit card they are limited to $500 and even that amount is insured.

I pity the fool that breaks into my place. I have a room mate that only weighs 100 pounds but she likes to eat people she doesn't know. :laughing:

All things aside, you have to constantly be watching your back for thieves and the like.

On your point for number 2. The reason people use GPS to find their way home is because they most likely used the GPS in the first place to find their way to a place they did not know how to get to hence needing to know how to get back.
 
First story sounds fishy unless the car was made more than ten years ago. Most modern cars have alarm systems which prevent the car from being started without the proper key. You cannot "hotwire" most modern cars since the computer needs to recognize the proper key or the car will not start and there is no way to bypass this feature. My car is twelve years old and I can leave it wide open and nobody can drive off in it without the proper key.
Thieves are smart enough to use info found in a broken into car for more theft for sure, but I don't think they are going to use the car to do so. Some folks leave extra car keys or house keys in their cars though and this is an unwise choice since those will enable crooks quite easily. Where I live we are required to have the registration and an insurance ID card which have our addresses on us at all times while driving. I doubt most folks will go through the trouble to remove such paperwork every time they exit the vehicle.
 
Worked in the prison system for 27 years. Most cririminals are stupid. They are street smart however. They learn from each other how to be better criminals. Then we pay to send them to school, in prison, until they get a high school diploma. After that they can go to college, often with a full scholarship, to learn skills. Skills like computer programing, and repair, business managment. Skills they will need, to be better criminals. Had a death row inmate that got 4 degrees, not sure if he was ever executed. But he did use these as ammo to try to get a reversal(life in prison).

There are those in prison who used bad judgement one time and don't intend to do it again. But the majority think crime pays, and for a very small number it does.

Until we change our societies attitude about crime and criminals it will get worse.
 
Spot on Rudy. My wife has a habit of picking strangers up, and its got me worried sick. Helping people is great, but with the way things are now I have a get to know you, trust you later mind set. She picks people up walking with gas cans or any other circumstance where she thinks she can help.Thats not a bad thing if people could be trusted. Great information on the different ways thieves use to take full advantage of what is available. I was amazed at the tactics shop lifters use when I was a retail asset protection employee. Some are truly smart and tactful. Many would purchase a low end dvd movie for five bucks and then stuff hundreds in blue rays on their person,and when the door alarm went off they would simply show their low value dvd as if it was setting the alarm off.:shock:
 
the smart criminals are the ones that DON'T get caught, the dumb ones are in prison

good tips, but I REFUSE to live my life in fear
 
"Vehicle Insurance Prohibitions!"

I would have thought that motor insurers would give automatically do's and don'ts regarding vehicle security? Times have changed since those days when we could leave our front doors open and still feel secure. Changing times needs changing habits? It amazes me how many people go to cash machines and never obscure their pin numbers. In England there has been a spate of thefts using card details at cash machines. Gangs have been fixing hidden cameras above the keyboard and using the information to steal from accounts! :(:shock::iwish:
 
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