The summer holiday season is the busiest time for burglars, but homeowners often inadvertently turn their homes into easy targets due to a few seemingly insignificant daily habits.
The summer holiday season is a favorite time for burglars.
During extended summer vacations, unattended houses become the primary target for criminals. However, more often than not, owners themselves make the task easier for offenders through obvious indicators of their absence and by neglecting basic security measures.
This was revealed by former burglar and now leading security expert Michael Fraser to LADbible.
The Danger of Social Media
In recent years, law enforcement has increasingly involved former criminals to understand their thought process when selecting a home to burgle. According to the specialist, social media has become a real boon for modern thieves. People carelessly share their vacation plans and don’t even consider who is viewing their pages and photos.
He advises immediately checking your profile privacy settings and restricting access to outsiders. Offenders actively use public posts to meticulously plan their visits, especially if they already know where you live.
“When it comes to social media, I call it online shopping. People foolishly post too much information on their social pages, and this makes everything so simple for a burglar,” the expert emphasized.
Home Exterior and Left-Out Items
However, it’s not just Instagram photos that can draw the attention of unwanted guests to your home. Thieves typically survey a house from the outside before attempting an illegal entry. Even a simple wall calendar displaying your plans can become an issue if it’s hung too close to a window.
Michael Fraser also warns that keys or purses left in plain sight in the hallway instantly make you a desirable target. And if you own garden tools, they should be securely locked away in a shed to prevent criminals from using them to break into doors or windows.
Furthermore, the exterior area of the house should be well-lit. The expert suggests trimming tall hedges or removing trash bins that a burglar could easily hide behind or use as a stepping stone to access an open window.
Security Systems and Hidden Cameras
The specialist strongly recommends not relying solely on basic locks but investing in more robust protection systems. Standard door locks often do not pose a significant obstacle to an experienced and determined robber.
Regarding video surveillance, the former burglar advises installing hidden cameras instead of or in addition to standard ones. Obvious security systems can be easily damaged or disabled by thieves, whereas an average criminal would simply not notice a disguised camera.
We remind you that if you are planning a holiday to Italy, you should be aware of the most common tourist scams, as such a vacation could end up costing significantly more than planned due to traps for travelers.
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