1. A friend of a friend left their car in the
long-term parking at San Jose and while away, someone broke into
the car. Using
the information on the car's registration
in
the glove compartment, they drove the car to their 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.
Have a little purse for it and carry it in YOUR purse when you go traveling
or even into a big office bldg. with shared parking.
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
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withdrawn.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Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the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. Of course your teen aged son on heroin could
do much the same thing.
Moral of the lesson:
a. Do not disclose the relationship between you
and the people in your fone's contact list. Avoid using names like Home,
Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....They
can facebook those relatives and trace them down. Or answer questions to
the bank, Mom's maiden name? I've had banks ask me that. .
b. And very importantly, when sensitive info
is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back."JOE did you say
that?"
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. Ask, JOE, did you just tell me to meet you
at the South Bay BRIDGE PARK and bring sandwiches??" You don't want to
carry pastrami to a mugger or worse to a rapist.
IF YOU HAVE TEENS, THE CAR IS A GATEWAY TO
LOSING YOUR HOUSE.
My friend's 16 year old son fell in love; the
young couple had issues with the four parents so the boy made plans to
steal Dad's truck, drive 1,000 miles having a honeymoon. Somewhere near
Las Vegas, they crashed into a tiny old Ford containing a family on vacation
and a child was killed.. This grieving family sued and my friend lost her
home and bank accounts. How hard is it to hide the keys full time? Maybe
a little lock box while boys are between 12 and 25. A short thirteen year
period.
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