New Electronic Technology and theft

 

New Electronic Technology and theft

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 match. 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 up the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

I guess I better start locking my GPS.

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I tripped going up the escalator and I fell for an hour and a half!

Sorry about your friend.

Sorry about your friend. This must be a terrible experience for him. I hope we spread this out so everyone could be more careful. From now on I will hide my GPS to the glove box and lock it.

It's a better idea that we should have the garage door remote control with the key chain (not the vision mount) so we won't lose it or stolen.

Watch what's in the car.

bpa5152 wrote:

New Electronic Technology and theft

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 match. 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 up the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

I guess I better start locking my GPS.

I think I would do more than lock the GPS. Put it and the Garage door opener in your pocket. Don't leave these things in your car ever! Also use a bean bag holder and put it away when you park. If this is to much trouble don't use these items! Sorry-- that's how the world works. Another good idea is to turn off the garage door opener when you leave the house for an extended time. Garage door keypads can be broken.

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NUVI 660, Late 2012 iMac, Macbook 2.1 Fall 2008, iPhone6 , Nuvi 3790, iPad2

YIKES!!

Clever thieves. Guess I'll have to lock the house entry from my garage if I ever get a garage door opener. Maybe I should set my home location for the nearest police station.

I just find it difficult to believe...

people are STILL not locking their GPS's!!. This website has been drilling this into us for the longest time. I used to feel sorry for those that had their's "lifted" but, it's getting really thin now. That was the first thing I did when I bought the thing. When I read in the information sent me that these things were worthless to the thief, I followed the instructions, ergo, I lock mine, and take it with me whenever/whenever I go.

I must admit that putting in the code is a tad tedious at times, but it beats shell out for another GPS!!

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"Backward, turn backward, oh time in your flight, make me a child again, just for tonight."

Due diligence

We all have to take care of our due diligence to responsibly secure our property and not become an attractive target for opportunist thieves. It is fairly simple for a thief to find your house and enter your garage, your vehicle registration with your address information is likely to be found in your glove compartment and many newer vehicles integrate garage controls into the vehicle itself; so taking the remote out of the car won't be an option for some people.
With the economy the way it is and more people becoming desperate, I expect these type of creative crimes to increase. Locking the door between the garage and house may help prevent a few thieves from entering your home but usually those doors aren't as secure and as difficult to break into as your front door and the thief can evade attention by simply closing the garage while breaking into that door. Consider an alarm with 24 hr monitoring also.
It's unfortunate we have to take these measures, but these are the times we live in and you can either rely on preparation or just being lucky.

Get off my lawn!

Bet Clint Eastwood would come up with a way to handle a thief that would try this stunt on him.

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Garmin Nuvi 780

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Using a garage door opener stolen from a vehicle to break into people's homes and garages isn't a new crime. It predates the introduction of GPS.

Many people leave their vehicle registration and insurance papers in their glove compartment or on the sunshade visors. These documents usually have the owner's address on them.

When the criminals break into a car and find a door opener, the next thing they search for is the registration/insurance papers. All they need is a simple street map to direct them to the house.

The GPS revolution has only made this crime a bit easier... The criminals no longer have to furnish their own street map.

Nothing you want to keep should ever be left in a vehicle. Most thieves know that it's common for people to tuck things under the seats or put them in the glove compartment. If nothing of value is readily visible, those are the first places they will look.

Secure your house and car better to make this harder

The GPS is a part of the problem in this case, but really isn't the key here, because this same crime could have easily been accomplished without a GPS in the car. Of course, you shouldn't leave your GPS in your parked car, but that doesn't solve the issue.

What some of us have to do better on... and I'm as guilty of this as anybody here... is locking our doors from the garage into the house. Or maybe install one of those combination doorlocks on the door between garage and house.

You're supposed to have registration/insurance papers with you when you drive, and if your car is driven by more than one person in the family, that means the papers have to be in the glove compartment, not with the driver. You can take them with you when you park, but they're too likely to get separated from the car if you do that. So we should keep our glove compartments locked. These locks are very easy to jimmy, though.

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JMoo On

Garage door openers and insurance papers

Yes, we are all guilty of leaving something in our cars that points to our home address. Most of these are items required by law i.e. proof of insurance, vehicles registrations, etc.

It's a good idea though to lock the door from the garage to the house in case someone breaks into your car, finds your home address and garage door opener.

I never leave my GPS in the car. Never. It always goes into a slip case and into my jacket pocket or work bag. Now, I will need to start remembering the garage door opener as well ... because locking the door between the garage and the house when you are in a rush with coffee in one hand and your work bag and car keys in the other is too much to juggle first thing in the morning!

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"Life is a journey - enjoy the ride!" Garmin nuvi 255

Ditto.. Except...

ajhope wrote:

Yes, we are all guilty of leaving something in our cars that points to our home address. Most of these are items required by law i.e. proof of insurance, vehicles registrations, etc.

It's a good idea though to lock the door from the garage to the house in case someone breaks into your car, finds your home address and garage door opener.

I never leave my GPS in the car. Never. It always goes into a slip case and into my jacket pocket or work bag. Now, I will need to start remembering the garage door opener as well ... because locking the door between the garage and the house when you are in a rush with coffee in one hand and your work bag and car keys in the other is too much to juggle first thing in the morning!

Ditto.. Except Tea instead of Coffee!!! wink

people with attached garages

good thing all i have in my garage is my car and worthless junk and it is NOT attached to my home.

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GO GREEN!

Good idea

dagarmin wrote:

What some of us have to do better on... and I'm as guilty of this as anybody here... is locking our doors from the garage into the house. Or maybe install one of those combination doorlocks on the door between garage and house.

Good idea. I'm going to put a combination lock on our house garage door. Then the kids only have to remember the combination to get in

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NUVI 660, Late 2012 iMac, Macbook 2.1 Fall 2008, iPhone6 , Nuvi 3790, iPad2

What?

HotTub wrote:

Bet Clint Eastwood would come up with a way to handle a thief that would try this stunt on him.

What what?? Did someone mention my name?

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Your Portion Of Light Whether you are a brilliant flame or but a tiny spark matters not-for the world needs whatever portion of light is yours to give.

The key to this problem is

The key to this problem is to not lose your garage door opener or leave it in the car will you get your car serviced.

Once somebody gets in your garage they have all day in a protected area to break through your door regardless of the locks you have.

I guess the opener needs to be on a key chain so you always have it with you. Unless you have a security system on your house.

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I tripped going up the escalator and I fell for an hour and a half!

SNOPES

Hey guys don't know how many of you are aware of Snopes.com but check it out. Copy and paste "new electronic technology and theft" in the search field. The results are that this has been circulating for a while.

Having been in law enforcement for 30+ years I don't wish to discourage anyone from taken prudent and reasonable precautions but this kind of stuff is more scare tactic than anything else.

Yes, be prudent and reasonable and take the old GPS off the dash but don't become paranoid because you own a GPS that you are any more a target to have your house broken into than the guy that has his car stolen and the thieves get the address from the registration. My experience is that this type of thing very rarely happens.

Okay, off the soapbox. Hope everyone is having a great winter. Too cold here in DC to want to go outside.

Stan

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Officer I'm sorry I was going the wrong way on that one-way street but my GPS told me to turn left ... Oh, I'm still getting a ticket, okay then the GPS will see ya in court!