Winter Vacation Home Security

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Planning a trip? Thinking of having your snail mail and newspaper delivery placed on a vacation hold so that thieves casing your neighborhood won’t see a pile-up of these items?

2HWell, there’s a better option, because what if…just what if…a crook works for the post office or newspaper company and keeps track of all of these vacation holds? They’ll know for sure you’re gone and will rob you, or at least try to. Have a trusted adult retrieve your mail and newspaper.

Next up for protecting your possessions is a rule that cannot be said too often: Never post your travel plans on social media! The number of people who do this daily is alarming, and this includes posting while on the vacation as well, putting up photos of the beach and boasting about the weather, scenery, etc. A thief reading this is like a dog watching you put steak in his bowl.

Another tactic is to install timed lighting devices so that your house isn’t perpetually dark, or perpetually lit up, which looks almost as suspicious.

Are you still continuing to put off getting a home security system? For as little as about $10/month your home can be monitored, but more provisional systems are still reasonable at $30 a month. The system should alert law enforcement if someone breaks in. Complement the home security with video surveillance. Today’s systems allow you to access them remotely.

Additional Tips for Home Security While You’re Away

  • Lock up all your valuables in a safe.
  • Deactivate the garage door opener.
  • Set up automatic timers that turn lights on and off.
  • Inform the police and a trusted neighbor of your travel plans.
  • Record a message on your voice mail that implies you’re home but busy.
  • Ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway.
  • Have your grass cut to prevent overgrowth while you’re gone.
  • Make sure your car, if you’re using it to travel, is equipped for the long trip.
  • Load up the car under the cover of night or inside your garage so that nobody sees you’re prepping to be gone.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

5 Home Security Myths

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If you’ve decided to avoid getting a home security system, I’m banking that the reason is at least one of the myths described below. Check them out:

1S“I have nothing valuable inside.” First of all, unless a burglar has X-ray vision, he’s going to have to break in to find out you have nothing valuable. He might be so pissed at this that he trashes the place before fleeing.

Secondly, a burglar knows that your “blue collar neighborhood” probably isn’t replete with alarm systems, but rather, lots of doors with simple locks and lots of windows with broken locks or already-torn screens.

Finally, what may not seem of value to you may be the burglar’s ticket to his next drug fix—anything he could quickly take off with and sell on the street or even eBay. They also like simple stupid stuff such as clock radios, DVDs, ornaments, even unopened bottles of vitamins.

“It’s too expensive.” Of course, the high-end, super sophisticated alarms that movie stars have for their mansions cost an arm and a leg, but home security companies know that they can make a tremendous profit off of selling less fancy systems for the average working class Joe and Jane. Why sell only to the rich? Some systems come as low as $9.95/month for monitoring. If you can’t spare $10 a month, see what vice you can give up that costs you at least $10/month.

“My neighborhood is safe.” If you think your neighborhood is safe, chances are it’s upscale. But that’s exactly where many burglars like to steal! They’re skillful at figuring out who doesn’t have the alarm system, while some know how to get past the alarm system. They want high-end valuables and won’t find them in “bad” neighborhoods too easily.

“Hide a spare key outside the door under a flower pot or welcome mat.” Even the world’s dumbest criminals know to check the rock that just happens to be by the front door for a key underneath. Either have a trusted person hold onto a spare key, or use keyless technology.

“Don’t let anyone know you’re traveling.” Actually, this means don’t blab about your trip indiscriminately, but do secretly tell a trusted adult so they can keep tabs on your house.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Protect your Home post Holidays

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After Santa has gone back to the North Pole to take a long rest, don’t think for a second that burglars too will be resting in January.

1HTrue, the holidays are a prime time for many burglaries, knowing that underneath that gargantuan Christmas tree in the picture window is surely a pile of expensive gifts. But people give burglars easy entry to their houses year-round.

The prowler will ring the bell. If nobody answers, he tests the door knob. If he does this enough times, this numbers game will pay off, because there’s always some lunkhead who will leave a door unlocked when they’re not home or overnight while they sleep.

If the main doors are locked, the thief may still persist and try other portals and may even break a window.

For safety year-round but especially post-holiday security, here are tips:

  • Get a home security system. If you already have one, good, but not good enough.
  • Keep all portals locked, even when you’re home. Yes, intruders enter occupied homes—these are more likely to be violent sociopaths wanting fast cash for their next drug fix, or rapists.
  • When you’re away, even for just a shopping trip, make it look like someone is inside (leave a TV on so the flickering can be seen, or a loud stereo, and/or lights).
  • When you’re out of town, arrange to have your house look like it’s being very lived in by installing automatic timers for exterior and interior lights, and arranging for trusted people to mow your lawn and park their car in your driveway.
  • As for the boxes that expensive items came in, keep them in your garage, out of public view, for three months. Then demolish them before leaving them curbside. Better yet, stuff the remnants in a trash bag.
  • I know you don’t want to live like a vampire, but do your best to keep shades and curtains closed even when you’re home in broad daylight.
  • Whether or not you have an alarm system, post stickers on your windows and signs in your yards that you do have a system.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Protect your Packages from Theft

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Yes, many thieves don’t have anything better to do than to follow delivery trucks around town to see what kind of bountiful packages they’ll be leaving at the doorsteps of homes. This means even more crooks simply drive around residential areas looking for boxes sitting outside of doors. These crooks will walk off with the packages.

5HHow can you help prevent this from happening?

  • When making the purchase, set up the delivery so that your signature is required for receipt.
  • Make sure you have the transaction’s tracking number.
  • If you can’t arrange to be home to receive, then arrange for the package to be dropped off at a local shipping center.
  • Sometimes these shipping centers are located far from home, so another option is to install an easily-seen surveillance camera over the door. A fake one will look just as real. The only drawback to a fake one is if the thief is either exceptionally brazen, or doesn’t see the camera.
  • Next, arrange to have the package placed in as much of a concealed area as possible. For example, set up a planter by your door that has artificial (or real) foliage cascading over it. Small boxes can be placed under the foliage, hidden from thieves.
  • Arrange for UPS, if that’s the delivery company, to alert you with a text or e-mail when the delivery is imminent.
  • Another option, if you live in an apartment or condo is to have the delivery made to the front office.

Additional Safeguards

  • If you want a package picked up from your place, don’t leave it outside. Surely there’s a way around this, such as bringing it to a shipping center, mailing it or arranging to be home to give it in person to the recipient.
  • If you opt for snail mail, insure it and notify the recipient when to expect it.
  • If mailing checks, deposit them at the post office or postal collection box, rather than leave them in your mail box for the postal carrier to pick up (or hand them directly to him).
  • If traveling, put your mail delivery on a vacation hold.
  • Retrieve your mail daily.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

13 Cheap Simple and Smart ways to secure your Home

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You don’t have to be wealthy to have a superbly protected home. You just need to have some common sense.

  1. BeOnKeep your doors locked overnight! Smoke blows through my ears and nostrils every time I read about someone “entering through an unlocked door” in the middle of the night and committing a sicko crime. This goes for windows, too. Rapists love to enter through unlocked windows. If you’re a big male bruiser with no children, and these things don’t scare you, then consider that you could still be up against a burglar with a gun to your head as you’re counting sheep.
  2. Keep doors and windows locked during the daytime when you’re home, too. Not all intruders operate in the dead of night.
  3. Keep the garage locked: always.
  4. Though some locks cost a lot more than others, we’re talking about door locks, not cars. If you want a $60 lock badly enough, this money will come out of the woodwork.
  5. Make your home looked lived in at all times. The BeOn smart lighting home security system is affordable and doesn’t have the month to month monitoring costs.
  6. Always keep the alarm on. A deranged sociopath doesn’t care if you’re home and it’s 2:00 in the afternoon when he needs money for his next drug fix.
  7. Make sure that your valuables are not visible through any windows.
  8. Never hide keys near doors because burglars will find them. Go keyless entry or leave keys with a neighbor.
  9. When you’re out, leave a TV on so that its flickering light makes your house look occupied. Use automatic timed lighting devices.
  10. Never announce on social media your travel plans.
  11. Always break down the boxes that expensive items came in before leaving them curbside for trash pickup.
  12. Put a vacation stop on your mail and newspaper delivery when you travel if you don’t have a trusted neighbor who can collect them for you.
  13. You won’t appear to be on vacation if a neighbor uses your driveway to park their car.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

10 most prolific Serial Burglars…ever

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Jack “Superthief” MacLean

MacLean stole in excess of $133 million in jewels, having robbed thousands of homes. By the time police nabbed him he was the owner of a helicopter and multi-million dollar mansion. His genius IQ failed to avoid his capture, but nevertheless, he was smart enough to have a police scanner with him during crimes.

1BHe never destroyed property to gain entry; victims often didn’t even know they’d been robbed or blamed family members on the thefts. His capture resulted from having an accomplice who tried selling the loot on the open market.

Colton Harris-Moore

At seven Harris-Moore ran away from home and lived in the forest, though made excursions into residential areas to steal food. At 13 he was sentenced to three years but ran away, committing over a hundred burglaries, eventually upgrading his thefts to valuables like computers and cars. Harris-Moore even stole single-engine airplanes. Finally he was caught trying to steal a boat.

Madhukar Mohandas Prabhakar

Prabhakar has been at thievery for over 40 years, never leaving enough evidence to get a conviction. This millionaire lives in Pune, India, and steals to fund the poor.

Prabhakar carries out his burglaries by flying to Mumbai, locating a wealthy area and pinpoints at least five possible targets. He comes back later to break in, stealing gold or silver valuables that he melts somewhere else. He sells the loot and launders the money through his hotel business.

Anthony Spilotro

Spilotro got a burglary ring going with his brother and the Mafia, and became rich. Typically, the burglars would drill through the outside wall of a business, locate its safe and crack it. The money that was made by selling stolen goods was laundered through Spilotro’s hardware store business.

During another drilling, the gang found themselves surrounded by cops; many went to prison, forcing Spilotro to retire from burglaries. Somehow, he evaded conviction, but was eventually killed by Mafia associates who were fed up by his arrogance.

The Hillside Gang

In the past three years, this gang has ransacked at least 150 celebrity mansions in Beverly Hills. One gangster would climb onto the balcony to enter the second floor, then deactivate the alarm. The accomplices then entered. They located the safe, then cracked it offsite.

In 2010 some old safes were discovered that had DNA evidence—leading to the arrest and conviction of Troy Thomas. This ended the burglaries.

Blane David Nordahl

Nordahl stole silver from perhaps 150 homes, coming away with $3 million. Nordahl broke into homes by removing panes of glass, taking hours to silently achieve this to avoid setting off alarms. He’d get past sleeping dogs and avoided tripping motion detectors once inside, then disabled them.

Nordahl was even brazen enough to stick around outside, testing the loot for its value with a silver test kit. Finally he was caught stealing cutlery and is in prison.

Leonardo Notarbartolo

Jewelry heist specialist Notarbartolo’s MO was to “shop” at a jewelry store with a woman and take photos with a camera inside a ballpoint pen. Once a target was decided upon with his gang, he’d arrange ahead of time for fencing to sell the loot as fast as possible post-burglary.

During one robbery he left a partially eaten sandwich; DNA led to his arrest. He served time, but once free, seemingly returned to crime; a jewel stash was discovered in his BMW, but was eventually returned to him due to lack of evidence. He’s still free.

Bill Mason

Mason wrote a book, “Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief.” During the 1970s and ‘80s he pilfered celebrity apartments, ultimately stealing $35 million worth of jewelry. Using climbing skills, he scaled high-rise apartments. Mason analyzed ahead of time his targets, though gives the errors of his victims most of the credit for his success.

Ignacio Del Rio

Del Rio specialized in committing home burglaries, training in climbing techniques and studying lock picking. Del Rio’s plan involved first studying the target house, including occupancy habits of the residents. He’d then scale to the second floor balcony, pick a lock and deactivate the alarm.

Del Rio was a tidy burglar, cleaning up so that the residents wouldn’t know right away they’d been victimized. He was captured only when someone came upon his stolen loot, worth $16 million, at a storage facility.

Charles Peace

Peace, born in 1832, broke into thousands of homes. Peace was violent, having murdered at least a few people along the way. He spent days as a concert violinist, but come nightfall he’d rob expensive homes. One night the owners awakened and had their bulldog go after Peace. He delivered a fatal punch to the dog’s face, then fled. Finally, while robbing a mansion he was caught. At 47 he was executed at a prison.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

11 of the Biggest Home Security Mistakes

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One type of mistake that you should never have to learn from involves home security. Don’t wait till something bad happens to you to learn a lesson. Here are the top mistakes that people make; learn about them here rather than from personal experience:BeOn

  1. Leaving doors unlocked. Yes, leave your door unlocked often enough overnight, and a burglar will find it. They’re all out there, working their third shift while you’re asleep, jiggling hundreds of door knobs to find that one unlocked door. Yours will be next. Be smart and lock up! This also includes during the day and when you’re gone.
  2. Penny pinching when it comes to locks. You get what you pay for. Don’t put a price tag on your home’s security.
  3. If you have a house alarm, use it. It should always be on. Don’t make the excuse that you’ll forget to turn it off when you want to step outside to see a rainbow.
  4. Keep the garage locked at all times.
  5. Don’t leave ladders out. Don’t say, “I’m too tired; I’ll put it away tomorrow.” A burglar is never too tired to climb a ladder to your second story window.
  6. Don’t hide keys near the door. Give the spare to a trusted neighbor.
  7. Leaving windows open. Okay, so maybe you don’t have a fly or moth problem, but guess what else will come in: thieves. Lock windows even if you’ll be gone for “just a few minutes.”
  8. Don’t post your vacation plans or adventures on Facebook, etc., until after you return.
  9. Don’t leave intact boxes, that expensive items like flat screen TVs came in, outside for trash pickup. Break them down and stuff in a trash bag.
  10. Make sure your valuables aren’t visible through windows.
  11. Keep your house looking occupied at all times while you’re away: Have a neighbor collect your newspapers and mail; used automatic timed lighting devices (including outside at night); leave a kid’s bicycle lying by the front door, etc. Another way to give it that “lived in look” is with the BeOn proactive smart lighting home security system. Check it out.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

Tips to Home Security Lighting

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“Don’t be afraid of the dark” is a reassurance that burglars never need; they need to hear, “Be afraid of the lights.”

BeOnA house that’s often dark sends a flare to burglars that nobody’s home, or, at least, that nobody will see the burglar doing what he does best.

Most people know of the automatic timing devices that flip lights on when the house is empty. These devices also can turn on TVs, fooling prowlers into thinking someone’s inside. The programming for the times should be changed up, and so should the lighting implements used.

A second tool is the motion detector which flips on a light when it detects movement. A popular kind is the one over the garage that comes on when someone comes up the driveway. And a bright light that goes on at the front door can deter a burglar from trying to get in.

All areas of possible entry should have a light cast upon them at the detection of motion. This includes the windows underneath the deck in the back, window wells to the basement and any side doors. These lights should be out of reach of criminals.

Sometimes, a sociopath awaits in the dark for the homeowner to return home (after casing the place and learning the occupants’ habits). Imagine how easy the criminal’s job will be if no light turns on when the garage door is opened. He could have you around the throat in an instant. But if a bright light goes on as the door opens, this can repel him, or at least enable the occupant to see him and then prepare for defense.

A more advanced option is a sensor that flips on a light but also sounds an alarm at the detection of movement. Some devices can be set at a higher threshold so that cats, raccoons and other critters don’t set them off.

The latest advancement is a system that “figures out” the occupants’ light-use habits. The BeOn system duplicates this when you’re not home, making it seem that you’re inside and doing your usual living. BeOn has a Kickstarter campaign that anyone serious about home security should check out.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

Tips to prepare for Power Outage

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Don’t wait to be in the dark to find out you’re in the dark. Are you equipped for a power outage? A power outage can even occur in perfect weather, thanks to a construction team “hitting a wire.”

BeOnBatteries. Don’t have these scattered haphazardly in some drawer. Battery holders are sold that you can hang and place batteries in “pockets” for tip-top organization.

Communication.

  • Have the power company’s phone number somewhere that it won’t get lost so that you can find out the estimated time of power recovery.
  • Even in this age of smartphones, you should always have a landline phone, because a power outage can cripple cell phone towers. Yes, the primitive phone system can save the day.
  • Know how to use your car’s battery to charge your cell phone, just in case your landline doesn’t work.
  • Have a self-powered radio on hand, but you’ll have batteries on hand so that you won’t need one, right?

Lights. Designate an easily-accessible compartment in your house to store light-yielding devices including headlamps and flashlights. This compartment should be labeled with glow-in-the-dark stickers for easy finding.

Candles. Forget candles; they can start fires. Keep glow sticks on hand, too, but in the freezer so that they last longer when it’s time to use them.

Sustenance. Designate a section in your pantry for emergency food—items that are to be used only in the event of an outage. Bagged and canned items can last seemingly forever. And don’t forget a can opener—one you use by hand, of course. Also keep plenty of bottled water in this section.

Like the good life? If during a power outage you don’t think you’d take to living on a limited diet very well, then have on hand a gas camping stove, but chances are, you’re not going to be too picky about the menu when there’s no power.

Got kids? A power outage could throw them for a loop, so have a plan ready to keep them calm and collected. This can be any number of board games in stock, or more creative ways to pass the time like seeing how many braids you can put in your daughter’s hair by LED light.

First aid kit. Keep this in an easy-to-find location and know exactly what’s in it.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

21 Tips for Holiday Home Security

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People complain about all the stress that comes with the holiday season: the in-laws, the expense of buying gifts, figuring out what to buy, travel, reunions with people they don’t like…

5HBut trust me on this: You’ll take you’re ever-criticizing in-laws and bratty nephew any day over a burglar who turns your holiday plans into a nightmare. So here’s how to protect your home:

  • First, make your home looked occupied at all times, even overnight. Ideally, a timed light in the kitchen could make burglars think someone’s up for a late night Christmas cookie binge. When you’re away, use timed lighting devices.
  • If you’re traveling, arrange for a vacation hold for newspaper and mail deliveries.
  • Keep all doors and windows locked at all times, even if you’re in and out. This includes the garage door.
  • Protect windows with special film that prevents penetration by an intruder.
  • Beef up your doors security. Think “door reinforcement technology” Think “Door Devil”. Your door jamb, where your lock bolts is made of ½ inch to ¾ inch flimsy pine. A 10 year old can kick in your door. But not if it’s beefed up with reinforcement. I’ve donethis to ALL my doors.
  • Figure out which drapes and blinds you don’t need open, and then keep them closed at all times.
  • Plant thorny shrubs close to windows.
  • Put your home security system’s sign on the front lawn, and one in the back, and its stickers on your windows.
  • You DO have a home security system, right? If not, get one. The security systems of today are not like the ones of times past that required hours of installation involving tearing out the walls to put in the wires.
  • If you can’t afford one, then at least put up the sign and stickers, which you can find somewhere if you look hard enough, perhaps some extra ones from friends who have systems.
  • And about your doors and windows: Have you checked the locks? Make sure they’re top-of-the-line.
  • If there are no men in the house, ask a male friend if he has any workboots he’d like to get rid of; put them outside your door, but make sure this doesn’t look staged.
  • Also put out an old-looking tool box and a strewn pair of men’s work gloves near the front door or on your patio.
  • Use your garage for cover: Do all loading of luggage inside with the door closed.
  • Before traveling, arrange with someone to shovel your driveway to make it look like someone’s home.
  • It’s amazing how many people blurt on their Facebook page their travel plans. Did you know that some burglars will spend hours perusing Facebook to see whose home will be empty, and then will get the exact location using the GPS tags on family photos? A photo of your dog can lead a burglar straight to your front door.
  • Make sure nobody from outside can peer in and see the gifts under your tree. When you read about a robbery of all the presents under a tree, you can bet that the pile was easily visible through a window.
  • Never create voice mail messages that imply that you’re not inside the house.
  • Arrange for someone to leave their car parked in your drive while you’re traveling.
  • If your car is always parked outside, make the interior gender-neutral so that a sociopath doesn’t think that no man possibly lives there.
  • The least likely place a burglar will check a house for valuables is a child’s bedroom. Hide your jewels inside your preschooler’s socks, or really, get a safe!

Robert Siciliano is a home and personal security expert to DoorDevil.com discussing Anti-Kick door reinforcement on YouTube. Disclosures.