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told them all the money was already withdrawn.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 Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the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.
4. Purse in the grocery cart scam...
A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left
her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart
while she reached something off a shelf...wait till you
read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she
reported it to the store personnel. After returning
home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security
to say that they had her wallet and that although there
was no money in it, it did still hold her personal
papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet,
only to be told by Mall Security that they had not
called her. By the time she returned home again, her
house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves
knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security,
they could lure her out of her house long enough for
them to burglarize it.
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.
4. Purse in the grocery cart scam...
A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left
her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart
while she reached something off a shelf...wait till you
read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she
reported it to the store personnel. After returning
home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security
to say that they had her wallet and that although there
was no money in it, it did still hold her personal
papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet,
only to be told by Mall Security that they had not
called her. By the time she returned home again, her
house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves
knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security,
they could lure her out of her house long enough for
them to burglarize it.
