The days of simply locking your front door and heading to the airport or on a road trip or even just a weekend away are long gone. With more and more people on social media, showcasing holiday snaps, it's easy for the general public to know when your away and that can of course cause some issues when it comes to home security. Most burglaries occur when people aren't home and is many cases are away for a few days, but that doesn't make you feel any less victimized. It doesn't make recovery any less emotional or frustrating. It doesn't make you feel any more secure at night when you lay down to sleep.
You have to be mindful about information sharing on social media. If your accounts are public they are open to anyone readying them including thieves who are now scouring social media trying to find personal information that can be used for their own benefit. You also have to be very careful about sharing your whereabouts. If someone finds out you're going on vacation or won't be at home your house will become a target. Of course we want to share spectacular places we are travelling too but perhaps use a bit of buffering or time delay so post a day or two after you arrive and not straight away. Also there is no harm in mentioning you have a friend/family member house sitting, these are just basic ways to put off anyone who thinks your house is standing vacant.
At one point home alarm systems had one primary purpose – scare off intruders. They'd blast a shrieking alarm that was loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. But if the intruder planned to move fast or knew how to disable the noise, that's where the alarm's benefits end. Also unless you know your neighbours many may not react to this until it become a nuisance and by that point the crime has already taken place.
If you want the most reliable, comprehensive security possible a monitored alarm system is a must. With this type of system, your alarm does more than make noise. It also alerts a team of security specialists at a monitoring hub. They can then connect to the system to try to correspond with the owner while simultaneously alerting the local authorities. This means no matter where you are they will get in touch, let you know your alarm has gone off and give you options on how you want to proceed.
You may think that having a security team on call monitoring the activity at your home would be too expensive to afford on a monthly basis. However, security companies like ADT or Alarm Relay are making this type of service affordable for more people.
Security isn't complete these days without having systems in place to protect your personal information. While when we travel many of us take our laptops with us but if not you need to have these secured somewhere safe and the same goes with any other Digital devices that contain personal information. Also while you are on the road make sure both your laptop and phone have strong passwords and you can also install Laptop and Phone tracking software.
Some identity thieves still use an old school method for gaining personal information – the mail. It's a good idea if you do travel to not have a mailbox outside your front door that can be accessed or broken into and rather the slip opening in your front door. Also opt to go paperless for as many things as possible meaning less personal information is sent via the post.
We are quiet about our holidays on social media unless we have someone housesitting. I enjoyed your post and would like to get an alarm system fitted one day!
Great tips, I'm always careful mentioning on social media when we are going to be away even though we always have a house sitter.
these are some good points. i love to share when i'm abroad but usually when i'm gone for work or something I always have someone housesitting my house.
My facebook is pretty private but I think if I lived in a city and not a village I would be more caerful about what I post. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.
Ignore my sign off on my comment - I was working in automatic link up mode!