Not all thieves are stupid

I was sent this information by one of my neighbours who suggested I should pass it on.

1. LONG-TERM PARKING

Some people left their car in the long-term parking at Windsor 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 Essex and robbed it.  So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should NOT leave our registration/insurance cards in it, nor the 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 hockey game.  Their car was parked adjacent to the arena in an area specially allotted to hockey 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 hockey 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 lorry 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 so you can still find your way home if you need to, one that would not give your address away if your GPS was stolen.

3. MOBILE PHONES:

This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen.  Her handbag, which contained her mobile, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her husband, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, "I received your text asking about our PIN number and I 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  When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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 phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the PIN.  Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of this story
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 child 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 burgled.  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 burgle it.