We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
I received this information in an email and forwarded it to a number of friends. Renee Jacobson suggested that the information was so important I should put it into a blog post, which I decided to do. I hope you find it important also.
NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID!!
1. Some people left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose 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 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.
2. GPS. Someone 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 aGPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found 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. CELL PHONES I never thought of this. This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cellphone, credit card, wallet, etc, was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby said ‘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 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.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 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:
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 sent texts 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.
Have you or someone you know had to deal with any of these things? We love hearing from you.
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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.
For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.
Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.
David N Walker 
David – I’ve sent this on to Twitter and Facebook. Your post is spot-on. Just yesterday when we were preparing to return home from yet another doctor’s appointment a nicely dressed young man at a service station approached my husband. He told my husband their vehicle had been broken into the night before at their hotel (and they had a missing car handle) and a thief had stolen all of their luggage and they couldn’t buy gas. My husband being the great guy that he is, paid for a tank of gas for them to get them on their way but I couldn’t help but notice the woman slouched down on the passenger side. I asked myself – was she embarrassed they had to ask for help or that it was so easy to pull a scam. Bless my husband, his comment: Even if it was a hoax, maybe our tank of gas will get them on the road to a better life!
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Whoa, I never thought of the cell phone thing before. That’s kind of scary! Thanks for these, David and the reminder that I need to be vigilant even when I think I’m being safe.
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Your welcome, Tameri. Glad I could help.
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Thanks, David! I hadn’t thought of some of these and I think I’m overly cautious much of the time. These are great. Thanks for posting. 🙂
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Thank you, Rhonda. Enjoyed visiting last night.
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Good information – things I never considered!
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Thanks for tuning in.
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Glad you put this in your blog, David. I read it when you sent it yesterday, and I appreciate the advice. Mom is programmed into my phone as Mom … think that might cause problems??
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Only if it wakes up whatever caregiver is on duty in the middle of the night.
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Hoping to see you, maybe, within the next 48 hours. Great piece!
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Thanks, Renee. I hope so, too.
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Thought provoking and helpful. Thanks
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Thanks, Sharon.
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Good advice! On another note… I had “Dad” in mine. Yes… both mom and Dad get their titles. The only time I ever lost my cell… (knock on wood) was I left it at an airline gate. Because I had Dad… they called him and asked if his son or daughter lost their phone. Long story short… got it back. Maybe we should educate our spouses to NEVER text confidential info.
Funny you should write this today… I just had a security system installed yesterday.
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Glad you got a security system, Karlene.
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