A lock will only keep honest people honest

When I was younger my parents tried to teach me about locking the car door, and the house, but they never really explained why.  I've learned over the years that locking something only really offers protection from the people who wouldn't steal anyway.

 

What do I mean? 

Simply put... a lock is breakable, if someone sees or suspects something valuable, then given enough time and a will to steal they will break that lock.  This principal applies both to physical items and your information / identity.

 

So how do you protect yourself?

To get started take steps to avoid being a target in the first place, start by protecting yourself with a few common sense practices.  It’s also very important to share these practices with people you know so they don’t accidently make you a target.

 

Here are a few ideas in each category:

Physical Items:

• When coming back to your vehicle, place all packages, laptops, even grocery bags in the trunk.  Don't wait until you've reached your destination, someone might be watching you to see if you move your laptop or new video game system into the trunk once you get there.
• Don't leave cell phones, GPS devices, or even the GPS holder sitting out; place them under your seat, or take them with you, especially if the item (Laptop, Blackberry, Wallet, Purse, etc) contains sensitive information.
• Lock your doors, go ahead and double check... it’s ok.

Information / Identity:

• Shred, Shred, Shred… Simply put; don’t put your personal identity at risk.  Shred any documents with your Name, address, phone number, Social Security, Bank Information, and or Credit Information.
• Be wary of the proverbial “To good to be true”, if it seems too good, you know what “IT IS”.  Don’t click on the email that tries to lure you into helping a foreign official exchange money, or the IRS link that offers you a double refund if you take this survey.

Quick Example:

A family decides to travel to the mall for an all day shopping trip.  They carefully put their GPS under the seat, and make sure the doors are locked.

A thief notices a GPS holder mounted to the front windshield, and quickly breaks their driver side window.  The thief then unlocks the door and ransacks the vehicle finding a GPS unit, a USB memory stick, and several house keys.

The thief then uses their GPS unit and presses the “Home” key to now burglarize their home. 

In short,  if they had taken the extra few seconds to put the GPS holder under the seat, the family wouldn’t have a broken window, lost checkbook, lost GPS, and a burglarized home.

 

In Summary:

A lock is still very important, however if there doesn’t appear to be anything of value to steal you probably won’t end up a target.

Comments

[Angella]

Very good tips. I have even gone so far as to wipe away the little circle the suction cup of my GPS holder leaves behind on my windshield so there is no "evidence" of it.