This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.
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.
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 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 ‘Ireceived 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 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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 Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
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 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 ‘Ireceived 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 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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, Mom, 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
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….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..
8 comments
Shannon Weeks
January 4, 2012 at 4:32 pm (UTC -4)
Excellent advice Tom. I hadn’t even thought about thieves looking at my cell phone. I use the note pad to keep some passwords in it and now I realize that’s probably not the smartest thing to do. This is my first time to your blog and I’m really enjoying the content- keep up the good work!
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Tom Burt
January 5, 2012 at 1:42 am (UTC -4)
Thank you Dr Weeks. Please come back often!
marquita herald
January 7, 2012 at 8:53 pm (UTC -4)
Wow pretty scary, but thanks for sharing this advice. For many years now I’ve kept a PO Box – I don’t get a lot of mail there, but having it allows me to use that address on forms and anything that requires an address potentially in the public view rather than my street address – which I rarely give out. Sounds a bit paranoid, but after reading your stories I am glad I did it!
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Bryan McHeyzer
January 10, 2012 at 8:31 pm (UTC -4)
Hi Tom,
Wow!
As the headline of your post suggest … there as some very smart people who use their talents to do harm rather than good.
This is excellent advise … something I would not have even considered necessary.
Thanks for sharing this post.
Cheers
Bryan
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Eldon Beard
January 18, 2012 at 7:39 am (UTC -4)
Hello Tom,
Thanks for getting this information out there. I think a lot of people don’t think about the potential for thieves to take everything they have, just by using stolen cell phones and other gadgets that provide all the clues they need to get it done.
We all need to be very cautious.
Eldon
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Kevin DeRoo
January 25, 2012 at 12:52 am (UTC -4)
Hey Tom,
Thanks so much for this warning, I’m not sure I would give any kind of pin number over a text message but I am guilty of having my home address programed into my GPS (Hummmm, do I really need that there, LOL!)
After reading your article I am going to remove my address from my GPS and hopefully I will still be able to make it home in the future!
Thanks again for the tips!
Kevin
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Dr. Erica Goodstone
February 26, 2012 at 4:07 pm (UTC -4)
Tom,
Wow. That is some scary yet important information. I don;t want to even imagine what it would be like to come home and find everything taken away or to discover your bank account has been emptied.
Thanks for sharing the information.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
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Steve Nicholas
February 29, 2012 at 8:00 pm (UTC -4)
Great post, Tom! It is important to be careful with sensitive information. I personally don’t like GPS because it seems like they are good for big picture, but not as much for the actual destination. Still, it is good to know why to be careful with putting information in public places. I’ll keep my flip phone instead of getting a smartphone, thank you very much
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