> The electronic age has produced electronic criminals.
>
> 1. LONG TERM OR VALET PARKING
> A friend of a friend 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. The thieves don't even really need to steal
> your car. If they have your home address and a garage door opener,
> they're good to go, especially if they know WHEN you parked your car
> and can figure out (or guess) how long you'll be away from your home.
>
> 2. 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
> carwas
> 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.
>
> 3. MOBILE PHONES
> 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 '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:
>
> 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 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.
>
> *PLEASE PASS THIS ON