Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter
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Burglars love targeting houses where it’s pretty obvious that no one’s at home.
After all, there’s less chance of them getting caught when there’s nobody there to catch them.
Are you worried about your home being burglarized when you’re at work, on vacation, or otherwise away from home?
If so, there are several things you can do to make it appear to potential burglars that your home is indeed occupied at all times – and prevent them from breaking in:
1 – Trim any bushes and shrubs that could conceal a burglar while he’s prying open a window or door. If you don’t give him a convenient place to hide he just might skip your house and seek out a less visible target.
2 – If you have an extra vehicle that you’ll be leaving at home, leave it sitting in the driveway instead of inside the garage. An empty driveway is one of the first things that will catch a burglar’s attention.
3 – Pick up a couple of security timers and set them to turn lamps in the kitchen and bathroom on and off at various times. Since those rooms are often used sparingly at night, you can set them to be on for just a couple of minutes at a time in order to conserve electricity.
4 – Leave a television turned on in the living room or den. The constantly changing, flickering light from a TV is one of the surest signs of human presence.
Better yet, you can get exactly the same effect for the cost of running a simple night light with a Fake TV Burglar Deterrent device.
5 – If you’re going to be away from home for more than a day two, either stop by the post office and ask them to hold your mail until you get back or ask a trusted neighbor to retrieve your mail from the box and hold it for you.
6 – If you’ll be out of town at any time during the Christmas holiday season, unplug the lights on the Christmas tree and make sure it can’t be seen from a window or door.
Christmas trees often have expensive gifts under them, and they tend to attract burglars like ants to a picnic.
7 – Arrange for a neighbor or a snow removal service to shovel your sidewalk and driveway should it happen to snow while you’re away.
The few bucks you’ll pay to have the snow removed will be money well spent because a snow-covered sidewalk and driveway with no tracks leading in and out is a dead giveaway that a home is probably unoccupied.
8 – Notify your local Neighborhood Watch organization that you will be away for a while so they can keep an extra close watch on your property.
9 – If you don’t have a home security system, either arrange for a company such as ADT to install one for you or install one yourself and save some cash. Important: Don’t forget to activate your new security system before you leave town!
10 – Check and double-check all windows and doors before you drive away to make sure they are all locked. It all too easy to forget one!
11 – Don’t tell the entire world that you’re going to be going out of town. Don’t tweet or make Facebook posts about it, and save the photo sharing till you get back home!
Bottom line: While there’s no way to completely eliminate the chance of a break-in, the steps listed above can help reduce the risk to an absolute minimum. Enjoy your travels and stay safe out on the road!
Bonus tip: Click here to learn how burglars now using social media to find vacationing victims.