- Watch what you say online.
Can’t wait to talk about your travel plans to Bora Bora Island? Don’t do it on social media like Facebook or Twitter, warns Toronto Police Department crime prevention and social media specialist Rob McDonald. Even better: wait until you get back from your trip. Although these sites have privacy settings, McDonald points out that nothing is completely private on the Internet. “The general rule should be, ‘Would you tell anyone on the street this information?’ If the answer is “no, ” don’t put it on your page. Also, be careful not to ask certain things online, such as “How do we get to the airport or the train station?”. - Check your doors and windows.
McDonald said that locking doors and windows is a no-brainer, but that alone won’t repel intruders. Depending on the type of door and lock, a thief might find a way in. A steel door, for example, is more difficult to open than a wooden door, a long deadbolt lock is better than a short bolt lock, and both types of safety are better than a spring bolt. Also, inspect the wear and tear on your door frames. “We sometimes find doors smashed because its frame was worn,” he reports.
You could reinforce basement windows and sliding patio doors by placing a piece of wood in the track. Also, most people install a short amount of timber to easily open these windows and doors, which isn’t great as protection against intruders. “If that piece of wood is too short, the window can be forced open,” McDonald notes. His suggestion? Install a screw in the top and bottom rails of the window frame so that the piece of wood can be held securely.
Finally, change the locks when you take possession of the house or after significant renovations. Also, make sure few people have the key to your home, McDonald concludes.
- Store valuables where they would be hard to find.
Remember that thieves want to complete their theft as quickly as possible. Mr McDonald points out that intruders will first look for valuables in the main bedroom and bathrooms. Make it more difficult for them by storing these items in less obvious places, and not under the bed or in the freezer, for example.
If you have a safe, make sure it’s heavy, fireproof, and bolted to the floor. If not, thieves might take it with them and open it somewhere else, McDonald says.
- Protect your important photos and papers.
Take digital photos of your valuables, make a note of their serial numbers, and store that information on a USB drive, which you could keep somewhere else, like in a bank vault, McDonald says. “It’s easier to find an object for which we have a photograph than an object for which we only have a written description,” he says.
Stash your bank statements, wills, passports, thumb drives, user IDs and other passwords in a filing cabinet, suggests Lee Anne Davies, founder of Agenomics, a consultancy in Victoria, B.C. Next, store the filing cabinet key discreetly in the house. Although a pile of paperwork would seem less attractive to thieves than electronic devices, cash or jewellery, she points out that identity theft is becoming more common. “I suggest that you ask your banking institution to indicate in your file that no credit can be issued to you until you confirm this over the phone,” she says. “That’s one way to protect yourself against identity theft.”
- Think like a thief.
Go to your balcony and look out the window. Do you see your iPad on the couch or the $50 bill you dropped on the kitchen island? If so, then anyone can see them. Draw the curtains or make sure no one can see your valuables from the outside, McDonald points out. Often, we will leave things like a cart or a stroller on the balcony without locking them, thinking that no one will steal them. But today, some pushchairs are worth as much as a bicycle on the concealed market, he says. Bring them inside or store them in the garage or shed.
