If you're worried about burglars invading your home, you're certainly not alone. It's a very real and justified fear!
You work hard to own a home or rent an apartment. In the blink of an eye, you could lose a lot of what you've worked so hard to gain.
To prevent burglaries, we've all heard typical tips like lock your doors and leave lights on. But what do actual burglars think of these tips?
A Reddit thread posed an interesting question to burglars: "what are the best ways to keep you out of my house?" Eventually, some real (and mostly former) burglars chimed in with their answers. What they have to say is sometimes incredibly surprising.
A lot of the tricks that we've grown to trust may actually be hurting you when it comes to protecting your home. Keep reading to see what real thieves say about keeping your home safe.
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Thumbnail Photo: YouTube / Maria Jasmine
[H/T: Reddit]
1.
Lock your dead bolts. Can’t tell you how easy it is to card a boot with the dead bolt unlocked. Might as well leave the door open. – Doublestack00
2.
If you’re in very student-y areas of UK cities, when you order a taxi get it from a slightly different address (like a block of flats with lots of lights on, or a house you know has no one living in it) and be waiting outside it, or better yet, get it from outside a supermarket or a pub etc. In my city, certain cab drivers are in cahoots with burglars, and let them know when a house is empty for most of the night because the students are out clubbing (even if they leave a light on etc). – Mmbopbopbopbop
3.
I went in middle class neighborhoods close to a community college. I live in a large U.S. city and needed an excuse to be in my late 20s walking around with a backpack. I would stand out too much in wealthy neighborhoods and poorer neighborhoods often have bars on windows because they expect to be robbed. Middle class people seem to be careless. I often went in through an unlocked backdoor… interestingly enough, I never went through a front door. I would always go to the back or side because any fences would provide coverage. – Reddit User
4.
Get a dog that doesn’t like strangers. I don’t care if it’s big or small or threatening or friendly… as soon as one dog barks, the whole neighborhood starts barking and announcing a burglar’s presence. – Reddit User
5.
“Beware of dog” signs and stickers are completely worthless. I once broke into a house though a doggy door. There was no dog home. – Reddit User
6.
Don’t keep small valuables all about. I often did all my work on foot, and stole money, jewelry, small electronics, etc. Have a safe basically. – werewrewrewrwer
7.
When picking a house, besides the obvious answers like a full mailbox and newspapers scattered about, I often picked houses by the stupid tricks people use when they go out of town.
Leave the radio on, leave the tv, leave the lights on, etc.
Tons of lights on, and an obnoxiously loud TV on in the living room at 2am on a Sunday night in a upper middle class neighborhood? lol k. – werewrewrewrwer
8.
Don’t use window air conditioners. This was by far the most common way to gain access by my friends. Kick in the A/C and climb on in. If nothing of value was found, the A/C could be taken in for scrap metal. – hearnrumors
9.
Don’t leave your garage door open. Thieves like to drive around nice neighborhoods, looking for people who left their garage open. They love a situation where someone might be mowing their backyard. Quickly hop out of the car, run into the garage, grab as many tools as they can, and run. If they brought a truck, they’ll be grabbing bigger stuff. You probably won’t even notice or know what happened. – hearnrumors
10.
Get an alarm system. If you can’t pony up for that, get the stickers & signage off eBay. – hearnrumors
11.
Don’t invite strangers over. Hosting an open-invitation kegger is a terrible idea. If a thief shows up, they are either stealing something right then and there, or they are casing the place to come back later. – hearnrumors
12.
Lock your patio door, even if you live on the 10th floor. Scaling the sides of most buildings is actually pretty easy. – hearnrumors
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These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
