Not all thieves are stupid

 

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.
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 mobile 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 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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 Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.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:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list.

Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mum, etc....

And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.

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..

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It's also pretty much BS

This whole thread is pretty much BS as no one can cite any incident where it can be shown a thief used the stored location in a GPS to find the victim.

The entire report that starts the thread is bogus as it gives no facts, cites no authority or provides any verifiable reference. It is a proven fact however that almost all stolen units are immediately dumped to a third party for resale as the perpetrator is more interested in quick cash than attempting a burglary.

Again, look at the original report - it starts out as hear-say by stating I know someone... Well, dang, I know someone as well. The "report" goes on and provides no details as a city, region, time and or verifiable agency with whom you could at least verify the incident truly occurred. As the say in South Texas (and a lot of other areas as well) the entire report is caca de toro.

And for those of you who want to state "Well, it could happen..." The sky could fall tomorrow as well. There is no way to disprove the possibility it could happen but no one has yet proved it DID happen. You know, they did take gullible out of the dictionary. if you don't believe me, look it up.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Well said

Well said, Boxcar!

Let's STOP THIS THREAD.

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

it was on the news

LongAce wrote:

This was reported on the news a couple of years ago and how you should never set your home address to your home but some place close to your home.

Wow, if it was covered "in the news years ago" then that certainly settles it. Too bad that I missed it, would have loved to see the smartest people in the world's explanation of what to do about the address on insurance cards or other paperwork in the glove box, as well as how they prevent the track log from leading right back to the home. But by all means, continue to give people this great advice. Now you can say it was on the news AND ON THE INTERNET. That certainly makes it correct and beyond question.

I've always felt..

I've always thought the later that thieves tend to be on the smart side as far as trial an error. I really see them as dumb, masters of there trade of choice(ripping off hard-working individuals).

Nah

David King wrote:

Well said, Boxcar!

Let's STOP THIS THREAD.

I like this thread. I am glad a live in a small town in a law abiding county. Three young men here were just sentenced to three years in Penn State for burglary. The men did not live around here. We are tough on crime.

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1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Never had the misfortune of

Never had the misfortune of something like that happening. Too many docs in my glove compartment with my address, no reasonable way to protect from that. I guess I could change my GPS's home setting to an intersection, but if they have the GPS they could just enter my address from docs in the glove compartment. I guess an home alarm system is a better plan.

My "Go Home" is set to a

My "Go Home" is set to a guy's house down the street who absolutely hates me. smile

I remember a story similar

I remember a story similar on the news a few years ago with the car break in, GPS finding home, and the garage door opener negating a forced entry. Before GPS, they would have used the car registration and a map to find your house.

GPS not the solvable issue

I have insurance cards and registrations in both my cars with my home address on them. So having my GPS doesn't give them anything other than directions they can't get easily otherwise.

Only one of my vehicles has a garage door opener, however. I have "flash2pass" in the other one. Maybe I'll switch the one with the opener. It is about $75 for the first vehicle and then about $35 for each additional to have a system where you flash the high beams twice to open the garage door. The receiver goes in place of the button in your garage and is powered by the house wiring. The sender goes in your car and is powered by the high beam circuit. No batteries and nothing extra laying around in the car. The sender is under the hood and thus not real easy to locate (or wire in).

I bought this mainly to clean up the interior of my little BMW convertible. I got tired of the garage door opener falling off the unusually small sun visors.

Jim

Movie theater parking lot espionage

robert5733 wrote:

I saw the news a while back and there has been a rash of crimes in the seattle area. While people are in the movies they break into the car and get the registration, they use it for the address and go rob the house cause they know how long they will be away from home.

This is the very reason why I don't feed my Rottweilers before going to the movies. They've figured out how long I'll be away, too, and can have the gory mess cleaned up before I get back.

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JMoo On

good one DC....

....my "Go Home" is set to the local police precinct.

check twice if needed

If you receive a text from your wife, hubby, kids or other family members before you send anything call first. If they text you they have a phone, and if they don`t answer wait to confirm to have them to call not text. In today`s fast life it is always a good thing to confirm what it is going on. Seniors are receiving calls from grandsons and sending many without checking if the caller is the real family member. If your called tells you do not say anything to my parents or other member of the family be aware.

What if...

chznor wrote:

....my "Go Home" is set to the local police precinct.

...you lose your GPS and someone honest wants to return it to you?

I recently found a Kindle Fire in my front yard. Took me a couple of hours searching it to find a hotmail email account and contacted the woman. Seems her step-son stole it and, fearing having it found on him, tossed it out the window of a car.

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

Criminals are stupid, but some are clever

To be a criminal, I think you must be stupid. If you are a criminal long enough, you will be caught and will pay the penalty. They evidently do not believe that but I think it's true. If you only committ a crime once or twice, you may not be caught but then you have to live with it the rest of your life which for what I consider a "normal person" would bother you so you still pay a price. Either way, what happens is not worth any temporary benefit you derive from the crime.

That doesn't mean criminals are not at times clever. They show some intellegence in doing the wrong thing reasonably well. But if they were really smart, they would realize they're not going to get anywhere doing what they are doing and they would stop.

Many are locked into self destructive behaviors by additions or other issues. These issues stop them from doing things that would be smarter.

Jim

Sociopaths

If a criminal is a sociopath, which numbers are arguably increasing, they have no guilt.

According to stats I saw recently, for non-violent crimes anyway, the chances of being caught are less than half.

Vegas would like those odds!

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

good point...the honest person

David King wrote:
chznor wrote:

....my "Go Home" is set to the local police precinct.

...(What if) you lose your GPS and someone honest wants to return it to you?

I recently found a Kindle Fire in my front yard. Took me a couple of hours searching it to find a hotmail email account and contacted the woman. Seems her step-son stole it and, fearing having it found on him, tossed it out the window of a car.

The honest person would follow the GPS to the local precinct and give it to the officer at the desk. I, having noticed my loss, would also take a trip to precinct and ask if anyone found a GPS device. Hopefully, that person would leave a number so I could thank him/her properly$

Horrific

That's a really scary story. I suppose it's good advice to lock your valuables, GPS, etc in either the glove compartment or the trunk if you're going to be away for any long period of time. Thieves are usually the smash and grab type, and wont bother fiddling with things that can't immediately see.

Thieves are like the general population..

Some are rather smart while some are so stupid if breathing wasn't an involuntary function they die
because they forgot they were supposed to breathe.
Instead of going to a job every day thieves spend their day stealing other peoples stuff whether it's out of your car, home or merchandise from a business.
Some become very good and some don't but eventually they get nailed because even the smartest make mistakes. It never happens fast enough but they get their due at some point.

That story has something to

That story has something to think about if it ever happens to us when away in an event. We have always set home location at an intersection, but what can you do about the registration docs that need to be kept in the car. Never thought about the phone being lost or stolen with debit cards, guess it would be good to only have first names only in address book

That story has something to

That story has something to think about if it ever happens to us when away in an event. We have always set home location at an intersection, but what can you do about the registration docs that need to be kept in the car. Never thought about the phone being lost or stolen with debit cards, guess it would be good to only have first names only in address book

ICE category

ryten wrote:

That story has something to think about if it ever happens to us when away in an event. We have always set home location at an intersection, but what can you do about the registration docs that need to be kept in the car. Never thought about the phone being lost or stolen with debit cards, guess it would be good to only have first names only in address book

What about the In Case of Emergency category on your phone. Delete them? What if the Emergency Room needs to get hold of your NOK?

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

Are we paranoid?

There is absolutely no way that we can get rid of all info that a thief could possibly use against us. There are just to many ways they can track us.
To list a few that have already been brought up:
GPS home location
ICE (incase of emergency)
insurance card
any personnal paperwork left in vehicle
residential sticker for parking at a condo/apartment

and I am sure the list will get longer.

--
Nuvi 2460LMT.

same thoughts

David King wrote:
chznor wrote:

....my "Go Home" is set to the local police precinct.

...you lose your GPS and someone honest wants to return it to you?

I recently found a Kindle Fire in my front yard. Took me a couple of hours searching it to find a hotmail email account and contacted the woman. Seems her step-son stole it and, fearing having it found on him, tossed it out the window of a car.

I agree completely. I've returned cell phones (twice) that I've found by having them call "home" and telling the person who lost it where they could pick it up. I would return a GPS if I found it. But if the GPS lied about where home was or if it had a initial start-up screen that lied to me and told me it was being tracked, then I would gladly keep the GPS (even though I know the track log would show me where the GPS goes home).

IMHO

IMHO, successful crooks are smart. Smarter than the average bear. All we can do is all we can do. Even if you go totally 'off the grid', which is next to impossible, you can have a large target on your chest.

Does every crook eventually make a mistake and get caught? I think not.

These comments come to you by a guy totally bored with what is on TV. rolleyes

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

so, you feel

Frovingslosh wrote:
David King wrote:
chznor wrote:

....my "Go Home" is set to the local police precinct.

...you lose your GPS and someone honest wants to return it to you?

I recently found a Kindle Fire in my front yard. Took me a couple of hours searching it to find a hotmail email account and contacted the woman. Seems her step-son stole it and, fearing having it found on him, tossed it out the window of a car.

I agree completely. I've returned cell phones (twice) that I've found by having them call "home" and telling the person who lost it where they could pick it up. I would return a GPS if I found it. But if the GPS lied about where home was or if it had a initial start-up screen that lied to me and told me it was being tracked, then I would gladly keep the GPS (even though I know the track log would show me where the GPS goes home).

You feel theft of someone's property is justified if they have something in their information incorrect? Why not just hand it over to a local law enforcement officer and then if it is unclaimed have them return it to you?

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

I guess we'll have to split

I guess we'll have to split those millions! I'm still waiting for mine...

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DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

Sometimes I wonder.

Missouri Dept of Safety Director left his GPS in his car Sunday morning. The thief broke in and took it, a gun and two badges. Don't ever leave your GPS in the car.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/public-s...

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1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Something I've done

Something I've done is change the names of my locations that obviously refer to a woman living alone. e.g. "Jane's House" got changed to "Doe House".

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NUVI 350

Now that....

Quote:

Box Car states: Why not just hand it over to a local law enforcement officer and then if it is unclaimed have them return it to you?

...would be an honest person.

+1

Box Car wrote:

You feel theft of someone's property is justified if they have something in their information incorrect? Why not just hand it over to a local law enforcement officer and then if it is unclaimed have them return it to you?

+1 , +2 and +3

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

no obligation to track down someone who wants to hide

Box Car wrote:

You feel theft of someone's property is justified if they have something in their information incorrect? Why not just hand it over to a local law enforcement officer and then if it is unclaimed have them return it to you?

No, I certainly never said that I would steal their property. But if they deliberately lie to me about where the GPS calls home, then I'm not going to go out of my way to return it. And I'm not going to go out of my way to take it to a cop (who would most likely just keep it for himself, as the owner is trying to stay hidden). If they think that I'm too stupid to enable the track log (if it isn't even already on) and see where all of the blue lines converge, then it would be rude of me to invade their privacy just to return a GPS that they clearly didn't want returned.

And if they have a brazen lie on the splash screen telling me that the GPS is being tracked and law enforcement is on their way to me right now, then they clearly want the GPS smashed to tiny pieces. I don't feel obligated to do the work involved in smashing it, but I'm quite willing to let them have their fantasy that someone would believe that and so destroy the device.

So I'll respond to honesty with honesty. But if they want to lie and show how clever they are, they deserve the logical result of that, no extra effort will be made for smug dishonest people.

Excellent write up. I own a

Excellent write up. I own a personal security business and you're right on target with your comments.

--
USN Recon Heavy Attack Squadron 1, Smoking Tigers. --- Zumo 550 mounted on Harley handlebars.

The solution

Lock & password protect. And it's available & free. Plus, never leave anything in your car with you address. Nothing!

And to Frovingslash. You're down right dishonest. Sorry.

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If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. - Yogi Berra

+1

Last Mrk wrote:

And to Frovingslash. You're down right dishonest. Sorry.

+1

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

.

Box Car wrote:

The OP's story has all the hallmarks of an Urban Legend in that nothing in the story can be verified. There are no dates, identifiable locations or anyway to verify the story isn't just that a story meant not to inform but to put fear, uncertainty and doubt (good ol' FUD) into peoples minds. While it does have some words of warning, the way it is presented isn't to inform more than it is meant to scare people. If you do a search of similar "warnings" you will probably find a dozen different variations of the same story.

Doesn't matter if it's true or not. The post brings to light some real good points about personally identifying info, such as your home address and texting from a stolen phone.

If you don't reward liars you are called dishonest

Last Mrk wrote:

And to Frovingslash. You're down right dishonest. Sorry.

So the name calling has started again. I'm called dishonest, simply because I stated that I would not go out of my way to reward (and thus encourage) liars, fools, and dishonest people. Or are you going to claim that you were just trying to insult someone with a user name here very similar to mine? And you're "Sorry" itself was dishonest.

All I have...

All I have to say is what goe around comes around.

Please keep your comments polite.

~Angela

some people

That's new to me. How do some people think of such things?

Not all thieves are stupid

Excellent advise for the rest of us!

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an94

Sigh

Got be careful, very sad what the world is becoming.

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