Don't tell us when your house is empty

What is even worse that when you connect to that site in the "live feed" section on the right it says" From exploreoz xxxxxx NSW connected"

Hi Phil,
Yeah I saw that last night. I think they're a great tool for keeping in contact with Family & Friends that are spread all over the place. But you must learn how to use the sites, their security & privacy settings and also just be mindful of what you tell people.
No wonder why people get scammed or robbed, I've seen that some people have over 200 to 1000 friends, Geez, they're just asking for trouble.
Good post Phil

Have a good one

Hi vk1dx,

Good post and very timely,

Cheers Wilko

Something I cannot understand, why would anyone want to go onto an internet site and tell the world when they were going away, how long for, their destination etc. I have always considered such 'advertising' to be beneficial to anyone inclined to want some free furniture, electrical appliances, etc. Gee ther'e some stupid people around.

Phil and All,

Interesting thought, and to this point, while we were away last year and registering for National Park camping and other such things we didn't include street number or street name for exactly that reason.

All that info on a peice of paper 3,000kms from home is a fantastic source of info for nasties.

Phone/car rego details will provide relevent authorities with enough info to gather additional details should that be necessary.

Rgds,

Rob.

Other one is; how many people advertise their home for sale with a web link showing every room and all your lovely expensive gear? The big ad just begs for someone to pay you an unwelcome visit.

For the last 5 years before retirement, I worked it was on a project that joined agencies throughout Australia together and also provided excellent highways into our friends. Of course those ones were "filtered". My involvement was on the hardware side with enough access to prove it worked. They did a profile on me. They even found a reference to me in the USA Military Police records. Okay So thats what I go up to that night in Saigon. Hmmm.

Its not just facebook people you also have the frequent flyer and shoppers cards. And any online shopping links. What about Woolies etc. You order online a couple of cartons of camping type foods and supplies!!! The order is dispatched via an online courier with lousy security. Says a lot. You go online to the newspaper and suspend the delivery for a month or more!!! Another flag. Let the neighbour read it.

The internet has certainly opened things up a lot. That could be better said another way Hey!!!

I am not a specialist even though I worked in that field for 30+ years. Things have progressed way beyond my knowledge. But not my imagination.

Just be aware.

Now back to the F1 race. No At home.

Phil

if I ever mention when I'm going I always take care to mention that I have a housesitter looking after the place. I use facebook but my address is private and I'm choosy about my friends and restrict access to a few even...

but ultimately if I'm away I'm not worried about my house. I have my most valuable and irreplacable things with me (kids special teddies etc come with us) we have insurance for a reason and I make sure that I have ample insurance to cover us for anything that may be lost, I make sure my bins go out etc too as you do.

We take calculated risks every day....even crossing the street...

Jude

Hi Phil

A good warning. Known times such as when you go to the shops can be observed and will have a pattern - so are probably more of a risk than irregular holidays away. Knowing your neighbours and looking after each other is the only solution.

The internet is a wonderful social media, but it has its risks. None of my immediate family have a presence on Facebook or similar, and we use pseudonyms on the net. We are overly privacy conscious. EBay reveals your name and address to the sender each purchase of course - and that too could be a risk as you don't really know who you are dealing with. I do say on the forums when i am going away, and have met wonderful forum members this way as well as researching where to go and stay while out on the tracks. However we still have family living at home while we are away.

Have faith that most people do the right thing, however the threat is there from the few unscrupulous ones; whether they steal your car from a parking lot, break into your house while you are taking the children to school, or mug you on your way home from work, as well as going to your house while you are on holidays. Sadly these days the potential is there.

Cheers

Motherhen

Still anonymous

Just because you aren't there doesn't mean nobody is there- scaremongering by the sensationalist ahhh journalist me thinks.

Doesn't seem to matter that much whether you're away or not...
Where I live (don't ask...) we've had a recent bad spate of daylight break-ins. Cheeky and blatant jobs...
Bar-stewards are trashing the houses too...
Smashed through several back doors in mid afternoon...
Knock at front door - if no answer, easy to remove flyscreen on backwindow
Knock at front door - and while you're answering that, his mate is in the back door and away with yr wallet...
Empty house..?? No prob: nick round side of house and turn off main switch of electricity - if still turned off next day - then the house is empty...
Bloke having arvo-nap on the settee - woke up to find a 13yr old boy in the room with him, brandishing iron bar...
How easy is it to knock on somebody's front door and, if answered, ask where Mr and Mrs Smith live... If not answered..??
There are only so-many precautions we can take to deter these scumbags... The Govt/Law is no help - I'm not allowed to wire-up my window frames to the 240v supply, nor leave upright shards of broken glass on the benches under my windows... Hell, I can't even flog an intruder with a baseball bat...
My solution is: My elecricity box is padlocked. I have motion detectors inside the house. These are linked to spotties. Also linked to 3x 110dB screamer alarms. 2 internal and one external. Internal and external flashing blue lights. Motion detectors set to 4 minutes. Also considering to buy a "smashing glass" detector which sets the alarms off when sound/frequency of breaking glass detected.
Only problem is - I won't be there to see the look on their faces when they gain entry...
Jedo