I got this as an email and thought it was worth passing along NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID 1.LONG-TERM PARKING Some people left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology. 2.GPS: Someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen. 3.CELL PHONES: I never thought of this! This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, "I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago." When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account. Moral lesson: a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc. b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back. c. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet "family and friends" who text you. 4.PURSE IN THE GROCERY CART SCAM: A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart while she reached something off a shelf/ Wait till you read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she reported it to the store personnel. After returning home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security to say that they had her wallet and that although there was no money in it, it did still hold her personal papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet, only to be told by Mall Security that they had not called her. By the time she returned home again, her house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security, they could lure her out of her house long enough for them to burglarize it. *THIS IS WORTH PASSING ON* Sorry for the typing error but unable to edit it
This is some frightening stuff that I'd never considered before. Thanks for passing it on. I'll certainly remember these tips and tell my family. In fact I think I'll change the names in my phone right away!
This is a little off of the topic (well, maybe a lot off-topic) but it is an important thing to know about and to do, especially for us older folks. That is using "ICE" (in case of emergency) on our emergency contacts from the phone list. If you are in an accident, have a sudden heart attack, or any other kind of emergency; the police or rescue workers are going to try and contact your family through the names in your cell phone. If we have just names in the list , so we can avoid he dangers mentioned above, of labeling someone as "hubby", "wife", or what ever; then responders are also going to have a hard time knowing who to call in an emergency situation. If you put the "(ICE)" after their name, then emergency workers will be able to call and notify your family.
Well, of course that the thieves who get away with stealing are not dumb. All the stupid ones are probably already locked up. Still, the telephone one was really smart on his part!
I learned along time ago to never underestimate thieves and crooks. If they're good enough to get elected to government office, they've ready proven they can scam people.
That's quite funny though, and who said that the thieves are stupid? Generally speaking yes but in most cases, especially if the theft had a great success, the thieves are more smart than we are as they have accomplished a task that I am quite sure very few of us would have complete.
Don't forget confident, too. If I tried any scams I would suddenly grow a "scam" neon sign on my forehead. I would be too nervous to pull any of these scams off.
Crooks are clever law breakers. They study ways to move around the law and how to get away with their crimes. We should always remember that the serpent in Eden was the most intelligent walking upright beast in all of the animal kingdom. Why does man relinquish his/her intelligence to the influence of the cunning powers of the world? Baffling thought...
It really is a baffling thought! The only thing I can come up with is one of the two things that are more powerful than intellect: hope and love. Either of those can render the smartest man/woman in the world really stupid.
One sad example I saw on the web, published a decade or two ago. How to steal people's lives and livelihood at the same time, LEGALLY. Answer: Build a hospital Medicine is the fastest growing way to murder someone, many people, legally, with no penalty other than conscience and later judgment. Who said the thieves are stupid ? Answer: There might have been men throughout the beginning centuries after Creation , perhaps many thousands of men, I don't have a clue how many. King Solomon in Proverbs, King David in Psalms, Moses in Torah, The Prophets and Messengers of the Creator throughout the Old Testament... and then Jesus. Someone might steal to live without honest work. But they then may lose their soul forever, remaining slaves of sin in their time on earth. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul? "