The criminals are getting smarter all the time.
Don’t be complacent, take a little extra time….be smarter than the thief.
Look at the picture:
One of my clients sent this to me and I had to warn everyone about it.
Monday, 2/15/10. As I reached to open the door from the passenger side, I noticed there was a hole right under my door handle. My first thought was, “someone has shot my truck!” I began to think about it and inspect it a little closer. I phoned my friend who owns a body shop and asked if he had any vehicles with damage to the doors that looked like a bullet hole. “Yes, I see it all the time. Thieves have a punch and place it right under the door handle, knock a hole through, reach in and unlock it, just as if they have a key. No alarms, broken glass or anything.”
I then placed a call to my insurance agent, who is also a friend, and explained it to him. I proceeded to tell him the situation and how I was puzzled that they left my GPS and all other belongings. Here is where it gets scary! “Oh no, he said, they want the break-in to be so subtle that you don’t even realize it. They look at your GPS to see where “home” is. Now they know what you drive, go to your home, and if your vehicle isn’t there they assume you aren’t and break in your home.” He says they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit cards. By the time you realize there has been a theft, they may have already had a couple days or more to use them. This is another reason they want the break-in to go unnoticed. I didn’t realize my situation for two full days! They even give you the courtesy of re-locking your doors for you. I guess they don’t want it to be broken into by other thieves!
Had they have found your check book, they could have taken checks from the middle section so they wouldn’t be noticed.
I personally checked with one of our local body shops and they told me they see about one of these per month and it’s been happening for a few years. They have a prevenitive fix that runs about $100.
Here are a few tips:
1. Remove your actual home address from your GPS ASAP so that you don’t tell thieves where you live! Use your local Wal-Mart address or somewhere else instead.
2. Don’t leave valuables in plain view inside your vehicle.
3. Park in a highly visible place. The more remote the location, the easier it is to tamper with it undetected!
4. Periodically walk around your car, daily if you are in a shopping center or other parking area to look for damage
5. Report thefts immediately….Call your bank to report missing checks, Credit Card Agencies for stolen Credit Cards, Police, and Insurance Companies.
If you have any questions, just give us a call 702-254-7774