Home Invasion Suspects Don “FBI” Gear

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In Buffalo New York WBEN reports  “Buffalo Police are investigating a home invasion at a Sussex Street home. The male victim told police the suspects accosted him, wearing what appeared to be FBI badges and jackets.”

“The victim reported that he was driving down Welker Street at around 8:45 AM, when four or five black males wearing “FBI” gear stopped him, and forced their way into his van. The then made the man drive them back to his house. Once inside, the victim said the suspects tied up and pistol-whipped his wife. They then ransacked the home, and made off with jewelry and possibly other items. Before they left, the suspects shot the male victim in his hand.”

That’s a tough one. In a recent post “Fake Cops Home Invasion — Respecting Vs. Trusting” It is important to respect the position of the title. Everyone deserves some respect until they don’t. But, to blindly trust the person behind the title/uniform/badge etc, can get you hurt.

We live in a society that has many rules. We need rules because without rule, we’d devolve into chaos. Those rules are often broken by those who believe they are above them or are simply so desperate that they need to break them to get their next fix. Some of these rules are more “guidelines” than they are law.

If the homeowner drove straight to the police department because he was concerned for his personal security, regardless of what kind of jacket the perpetrators were wearing, he could have saved himself lots of trouble.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show.

Dumb Intruder Calls Cops On Homeowner

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If I ever strived to be a dumb criminal I’d want to be Timothy James Chapek, 24 years old from Portland, Ore. This cat breaks into a home and jumps in the shower when the woman who lived there came home.

The kid locked the bathroom door and called 911. From the 911 call: “I just broke into a house and the owners came home…I think they have guns,” he told the 911 operator.

At the same time the homeowner confronted him and asked why he was in the house taking a shower and he says “I broke in. I was kidnapped.”

When the homeowner yelled at him telling him she was calling the cops he said “I’ve already called them. They’re on the phone right now.”

OMG!

How about not letting this happen in the first place?

Install signage. “Beware of Dog” and “This House is Alarmed” neon signs for $1.98. One for the front door and one for the back door.

Go to the pet store. Get 2 big dog bowls, one for the front porch and one for the back. Write “Killer” in permanent marker on it. This gives the impression you have a big dog. You can even buy a barking dog alarm.

Lock your doors and windows. Install a monitored alarm system. Consider ADT Pulse that comes with a battery backup even when the poser goes out.

Give your home that lived in look. Leave the TV on LOUD while you are gone.

Install timers on your lights both indoor and outdoor. Close the shades to prevent peeping inside.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing ADT Pulse™ on Fox News.

Neighborhood Works Together To Fight Crime

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In Creekmoor in Orangeburg County South Carolina, residents are banding together to fight crime.

The Times and Democrat reports “Creekmoor residents are trying to put a stop to property crimes and thefts before the entire area is overrun with crimes far worse than burglaries. About 60 residents of the Columbia Road neighborhood met last week to discuss expanding patrols to put more eyes and ears on the neighborhood. “I’m not asking you to confront any of these people,” Creekmoor resident Malcom Crider said. “All I’m asking you to do is ride.” The neighborhood of about 200 homes began a Crime Watch group three years ago after the typically quiet, middle-class community began experiencing vehicle break-ins.”

The following is a scenario often used by suspects looking to burglarize homes in your neighborhoods as provided by the “Downey Police Department” in the Downey Patriot.

“A suspect may simply walk to the front door of a residence and knock on the door. If someone answers, the suspect will make an excuse for being at the wrong house and walk away. If there is no answer, the suspect will either leave the location before returning a short time later, or make his way into the back or side yard to find a way into the house.

Once out of view of the street, he will look for open windows or doors to gain entry into the residence. If the house is locked, the burglar will oftentimes force entry by breaking a window or forcing a door open.

A car with additional suspects will oftentimes wait a short distance away for the suspect to return with stolen property. The suspect may also call them to respond to the house to assist in the actual burglary of the location.

Because the actions of the burglars are usually not visible from the street, it is difficult for police to discover the crime in progress. Because of this, it’s imperative that residents in the area pay close attention to suspicious subjects in their neighborhood. This is especially true if you see someone knock on a door of a residence, then go to the back of the house when they fail to get an answer.

If you see people in your neighborhood – whether they are walking or sitting in a vehicle – that you feel may be looking for an opportunity to commit a crime, please call the Police Department.”

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston.

Be Careful Of Earthquake Related Charity Scams

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Internet criminals follow a similar editorial calendar as newspaper and magazine editors, coordinating their attacks around holidays, and the change in seasons. They further capitalize on significant events and natural disasters. Japans earthquake is a biggie.

Whenever a natural disaster hits normal people get an urge to help those in distress. Our want/need/ability to help out comes from thousands of years of communal living as an interdependent species.

However natural disasters also bring out the worst in the bottom feeding sleazebags who smell blood.

Scammers have ramped up and are sending “phish” emails designed to extract your money to their own nefarious cause, “themselves.” Right now, there is 24 hours news reports focusing on the tragedy and people are understandably getting sucked into the drama of the events. This is a prime time to reach out to those same people who are enmeshed in the reports and get them to donate to fake organizations. The following tip will help prevent you from getting scammed and get your donation into the right hands.

Do not donate cash: Anyone asking to come to your home or office and pick up cash is a scammer. Any phone calls or emails received requesting cash or to wire money transfers is a scam.

Be suspect of all emails requesting donations: I would never click on a link in an email, especially short URL’s. Always manually enter the domain name into the address bar. The best thing is to go directly to the organization’s website.

Check with the Better business Bureau: The first thing you should always do prior to making a donation to any charity is to check their credibility with the BBB. Go online to http://www.bbb.org/us/Charity-Reviews/ and search out the charity.

Give only to charities, not individuals: Any communication from someone requesting money because of their hardship is an obvious scam. But some people are saps for an emotional sob story. While you may be savvy enough not to fall for these scams, someone in your life who may be naïve could.

Give now and consider giving to the Red Cross: The American Red Cross is the most known and credible organization on the planet for helping out those in despair. Give now and give as much as you can.

Never give out credit card numbers via an unsolicited email.

Never give out PIN or account numbers to anyone for any reason

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing home security and identity theft on TBS Movie and a Makeover.

Child Abduction Awareness For Parents

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When a true stranger steals a child, the child often doesn’t survive beyond 3 hours. Protecting yourself and children begins with understanding basic security. Today most helicopter parents won’t take their eyes off their kids, and I don’t see that as a bad thing.

Always have recent photos and videos of your child for police. Invest in a fingerprint or DNA kit to help investigators.

In the event that a child is approached, the best defense is a good offense. Resistance has often been a proven tactic for removing oneself from a dangerous situation.

Running, screaming, biting, hitting and kicking feel unnatural to teach your kids, but are natural traits they possess (My 2 year old proves this). I say if they are good at it now, train them to do it better!

As soon as your child is at an age where they can comprehend this issue, it’s time to discuss it. Age 4 they have a pretty good grasp, but age five they seem to be on solid footing.

Role play with your kids. This is a delicate balance of awareness and play. Intellectually introduce scenarios for them to respond to. See how they articulate a response. Let them figure it out on their own. Then if they don’t give you the answer you were looking for, work with them to understand the nature of their choice and its negative impact.

Discuss the Internet and online predators. This is an entire future post. But in the meantime, do your research and know what risks they face. Take control of their access to PC’s and monitor everything they do.

Most importantly, this kind of education is about empowerment. It’s about taking control. It’s a gentle awareness that can save their lives. Don’t guilt them into making the right decisions and make them feel bad about not understanding the issue. If they aren’t ready to comprehend the issue then back off.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing Child Abductions on MSNBC.

If A Robber Wants Your Money, Give It To Them

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When a robber walks in to a place of business the general advice given is to give them what monetary request they make and let them leave. Fighting for materials items is never a good idea. There isn’t a dollar amount one can put on a life or on a box cutter across the face.

But in recent weeks, 2 Boston area store clerks fought off robbers. One man used a pepper spray and a woman used a metal rod. Both situations could have easily gone wrong, but these two clerks decided to fight. Mind you, I’m no pacifist.

The Boston Globe reported “The man leaned over the counter, said “Hi,’’ and, with a knife in his right hand, calmly warned the clerk to stay away from any alarm buttons, according to a surveillance video that captured the encounter. “Give me the money in the register now. No buttons. Put the phone down.’’ Then he turned his head. And that was when the clerk swung a 4-foot, 15-pound iron rod from behind the counter and brought it crashing down on his wrist.

“He had the knife, and I had something prepared, too,’’ she said, holding the rod that knocked the knife from the man’s hand.”

Video http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/03/lynn_storeowner.html

Congratulations to the clerk. It’s always nice to hear when good conquers evil. This situation could have gone very wrong if she missed. History proves when a drugged up animal wants your money, they will often take the money and run.

It is true offering resistance has been proven to stop an attack situation more than 80% of the time. But, I only recommend someone offer resistance when their personal security is at risk. You can argue that this woman’s personal security was at stake, but robbery response 101 is to give the money up and let them leave. If they want your money, wallet, purse, just toss it in one direction and run screaming on the other.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston.

Security Cameras Capture Vandal

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Back when man was scraping his knuckles on the ground security cameras were the size of mail boxes and were only affordable to businesses.  Banks, retail and convenience stores were the primary consumers of “Closed Circuit TV”.

Today security cameras are as small as a dime and some don’t cost much more. Everyone is installing cameras today and for good reason: They see more than you can, and they see it when you can’t.

WOWT reports a family had their ADT security system installed a little over a year and it has already solved a vandalism problem and given them peace of mind.

“The family’s husband would see a neighbor boy damage their property but every time he called the sheriff’s department he would get the same answer, without proof deputies couldn’t do a thing. The husband said, “I can’t do a thing about it unless you have proof. My camcorder didn’t help that much, you can’t catch them at night or anytime but this (his security cameras) is what captured somebody doing something to the house.”

“One time the siding was damaged, another time the mailbox was knocked over; someone even threw chemicals on their lawn, burning the grass. The security cameras provided pictures for deputies to identify the vandal. It was the next door neighbor kid. There was never another incident of vandalism.”

I have 16 security cameras in and around my home. Seven cameras are inside the home and are connected to my ADT Pulse™ System and I can access them on the internet and with my iPhone.

Recently In my yard a spotlight was broke off its mount. My immediate suspicion was a particular neighborhood kid. I reviewed the video footage from that past week and saw that it was a tree branch that knocked it down. That camera saved me from yelling at someone and looking like a jerk!

Besides the uber cool factor when I whip out my security camera apps at a party, the peace of mind is fantastic.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing ADT Pulse™ on Fox News.

Man Identified As ‘East Coast Rapist’ Held

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There are only a few topics I rarely address due to their sensitive nature. Rape is one. It’s hard to write about and even harder talk about it. And being that it has never happened to me, and the fact that I’m a man, it’s a topic I’ve left to female experts in personal security to expound upon.

My overall position is I can’t call myself an expert in this topic so it’s one I should only hint at discussing.

A story in the Boston Globe reveals “Authorities have identified a man they arrested in Connecticut on suspicion of being responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women since 1997 and dubbed the East Coast Rapist. Police spokesman Joe Avery said Aaron Thomas, 39, of New Haven, was arrested yesterday afternoon at his home by the US Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force. Avery said Thomas “has been identified as the East Coast Rapist.’’ US Marshal Joe Faughnan said a lead from authorities in Virginia led them to Thomas. Authorities recently posted sketches of the suspect on electronic billboards in states where attacks occurred, including Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, and Rhode Island.”

This is good news. However there are many other predators to take his place. I’ve seen stats saying 1 out of four American women will be sexually assaulted. Others say a woman is sexually assaulted somewhere in the world every 56 seconds.

Often these assaults are done by someone known to the victim whereas fewer are done by total strangers.

Either way it is essential women take hardcore self defense classes. Self defense is a topic I can speak to. The best program is known as Impact Model Mugging which utilizes a technique called “adrenal stress training”. Look them up and take any class within driving distance. And do it today.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing self defense on Fox Boston.

Dumb Criminal Tries To Guess PIN 50 Times

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What do you do when you are picked up in a cab and the driver suspects your home will be vacant while you are gone?

The Manchester Evening News reports “A BUNGLING burglar went to the same ATM more than 50 times – to try and guess the PIN numbers of bank cards he had stolen. He thought he might strike it lucky if he kept on putting in random sets of four numbers into the ATM machine. But, with the odds of correctly guessing a card’s PIN number ranked at one in 10,000, and he never managed to make a single withdrawal.”

Police believe the dumb criminal may have used his job as a taxi driver to pick out homes where he had picked people up and he would then return to at night and break into. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of burglary and was jailed for three years four months.

Whenever I’m picked up in a cab from my home I always get on the phone and fake or make a real call and say “Bill, can you make sure when I’m gone that the Dog stays in the house? He got out again and bit someone bad, there was blood everywhere, and please set the home alarm, and I’ll only be gone a short time this is just a shuttle”.

This puts enough doubt in the mind of the cabbie to choose my home as his next target.

Get the new ADT Pulse™ system which has 5 ways to turn on/ off the system including a wired keypad, touchpad, iPhone app, remote control and a PC.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing ADT Pulse™ on Fox News.

Slam Online Scams

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#1 Nigerian Scams: While these types of scams are generally understood to be Nigerian in nature and origin, and are in fact named after the 419 Nigerian code that made them illegal, advanced-fee scams happen right here in the good old USA by Americans presenting to offer jobs or may ask help to transfer money.

#2 Romance Scams: If you ever hear talk like this, run far and fast: “In me sweetheart you are going to find the most passionate, loving and romantic man you have ever met. There are very few promises in life but this is one of them! ROMANCE is the key to my happiness and to my heart and soul!”

#3 Classified Ad Scams: This story caught my eye: “An online scam targeting pet-lovers is circulating the web, and it could cost you more than a new pet. An ad posted to a local online classified website by a man who claimed he was living in Florida. He was willing to give the Labrador Retriever puppy named Dely away for the cost of shipping, which was $220.”

#4 Phishing: Phishing continues to become more sophisticated, more effective, and more prevalent. In one example, criminal hackers waited until Pennsylvania school administrators were on vacation, then used simple money transfers to liquidate over $440,000 out of the districts accounts.

#5 Spear Phishing: Spear phishing occurs when the scammers concentrate on a localized target, usually an individual with control over a company’s checkbook. This insidious type of phishing occurs when a recipient clicks a link, either in the body of an email or on the spoofed website linked in the email, and a download begins.

Don’t be taken. Keep your head up and recognize when someone’s trying to take advantage of you.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing home security and identity theft on TBS Movie and a Makeover.